Ocon surprised by Force India pace

Esteban Ocon secured a fantastic sixth place at the Monaco Grand Prix last weekend and he says that he was shocked by Force India’s pace at the principality.

Ocon finished in his starting position and was catching Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas before he ran out of laps but took home a helpful eight points as Force India jumped to sixth in the constructors’ championship.

They are now only 20 points behind Renault in the chase for fourth place after a slow start to the season.

Ocon ran a rather quiet race in Monaco, being rarely threatened from behind as he managed to switch on the supersoft tyres as others around him struggled with the ultrasofts.

“It was a fantastic race,” he said. “The pace we had, I was at some points the quickest on track, which was quite surprising.

Ocon will be looking to push on in Canada next up, as he looks to improve on his current 13th place in the drivers’ standings.