Ocon drove over 100 laps in F1 testing day one: "Everything went well today"

The fight in the midfield promises to be a fierce one again this season. Last year Renault came up just short, but with a new name and new team colours, they now hope to stay ahead of the competition. The first test day in Bahrain was a good start.

"Everything went well today", said Esteban Ocon in the team's press release afterwards. "It was definitely a good first day back at school! It was a solid one for the team, we completed the programme with ease and we even had time at the end of the day to do pit-stop practice with the team, which was quite nice as it meant we could get ourselves back into race situations."

Ocon drove more than 100 laps

Ocon eventually set the third fastest time and by mid-afternoon was even the closest competitor to Max Verstappen. Although he drove his fastest times on a softer tyre, the Frenchman, like Verstappen, easily drove more than 100 laps. That's always a good sign during winter testing.

"We put in some decent laps today and we learned everything we set out to achieve and that’s exactly what you need during test days. We faced all kinds of conditions as well: heat this morning then strong gusts and a sandstorm this afternoon, so pretty much everything except rain. That was interesting but we did what we needed to, and I look forward to driving the car again later this weekend," Ocon said.