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Ocon: Never felt better going into a racing season

Ocon: "Never felt better going into a racing season"

27-03-2020 16:25

GPblog.com

Esteban Ocon will have to wait even longer for his official return to the grid, but in the meantime, the Frenchman will be active as a columnist on Formula1.com. In his first column, the driver revealed he has never been better prepared for a season than in 2020.

Although Ocon has always been seen as one of the best young talents in Formula 1, he was pushing aside at Racing Point in 2019 to make room for Lance Stroll. After all, Stroll's father Lawrence had bought the team, and Sergio Perez is a much more interesting driver for the Pink Panthers financially, as they still operate on a relatively small budget.

After a one-year sabbatical, Ocon is finally back on the grid. The 23-year-old driver has signed a two-year contract with Renault, where he will replace Nico Hülkenberg. 

His comeback will have to wait, however. Due to the coronavirus, almost the entire first half of the F1 calendar has already been postponed or cancelled. There will be no racing before June at the earliest, as it stands.

"I was back into training at 321 Perform in the Pyrenees on January 2. That’s the earliest I’ve ever begun pre-season preparation," writes the Frenchman, who is still part of the Mercedes driver program.

"I felt I wanted a strong base from a physical aspect and solve all the little details from my experience in previous years to be stronger. As an athlete you don’t want to leave anything on the table, you need to do everything you can to ensure you are ready for the challenge.

"I’ve never felt better nor more comfortable going into a racing season, it’s been one of the best training periods I’ve done."

Ocon will have to keep training for now, as the postponement of the F1 season will last for several more months before he'll be back on track.