Esteban Ocon was unable to used his preferred tyre compound at the restart in the Italian Grand Prix because the team had not warmed them up.
The Renault driver had to restart the race on a set of soft tyres, which quickly degraded, though he was able to finish in eighth place.Following the race Ocon criticised the team’s strategy on the radio, but was swiftly silenced by his engineer and team principal Cyril Abiteboul.
Speaking to media later, Ocon said “it’s just the luck was not on our side today”, and rued the decision to pit during the initial Safety Car period.
“I think in terms of execution and taking a decision, I think we’ve been doing the right thing. If obviously we stayed out, we didn’t take the Safety Car, things could have happened. But all in all, if the red flag doesn’t come, we lose time. So reviewing it, I think overall, it was a good race.
“It’s a shame obviously we pitted in those circumstances and those things happened but our luck will turn around.”
Ocon was one of few drivers to restart the race on the soft tyre compound, which was not his preference. “Of course we had in mind to get a good start with those soft tyres,” he said. “Unfortunately, my medium set was not ready to go.
“We couldn’t choose it, otherwise we would have done. So it was very good pace the first two laps but on the third lap, it did degrade quite significantly. I was not obviously so happy about the balance and how things evolved after that.
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“So I think if we had to do it again, we would have chosen the medium but obviously they were not ready and in condition.”
Although Ocon had fitted a set of medium tyres at his first pit stop, they were not warmed up in time for the restart.
“They dropped temperature,” Ocon confirmed. “There’s been a bit of a delay to warm them up, so that’s something we can review.”
Ocon’s team radio after the Italian Grand Prix
| Engineer: | OK Esteban fantastic job there well done mate. eighth from 12th that’s not bad at all. Daniel sixth. Good points for the team again. Well done mate. |
| Ocon: | Yeah, copy. I disagree. I think we missed out completely in this race. There was a massive opportunity. |
| Engineer: | OK just hold it on the radio please. Hold it on the radio. We’ll talk about it in the office. |
| Ocon: | No we have to face what the reality… |
| Engineer: | (Talking over the top of him) Please. Do not talk. On the radio. |
| Abiteboul: | (Talking over the top of him) Esteban, this is not the place. |
| Ocon: | Copy |
| Engineer: | Please drink as much fluid as you can. Remember we’ll be measuring it afterwards. |
| Engineer: | Finally remember when you come into the pit lane it’s P2, then P1, pause, then P0. |
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BasCB (@bascb)
6th September 2020, 22:48
Interesting. So they forgot to turn them on in time because they hadn’t counted on having to use them? How long do these tyres have to be heated?
abananasplitz
6th September 2020, 23:05
esteban block-on, i suspect he wont stay at renault for very long, especially after hurrican alonse storms by.
abananasplitz
6th September 2020, 23:08
id love to see them rip his contract and sign gasly instead :)
Todfod (@todfod)
7th September 2020, 13:07
Another race.. and another Ocon blame game started on the radio. Esteban never fails to miss an opportunity to inform the world that Renault is dropping the ball and holding him back from some fantastic race results.
I actually supported Ocon during the Force India days when he was battling Perez, as I thought he had the potential to be a top drawer talent. But as time has gone by, he’s not developed in to anything more than a mediocre midfield talent with a Prima Dona attitude, who whinges, whines and makes excuses when things don’t go his way.
Can’t wait for Alonso to eat him for breakfast next season.
Jordi Casademunt (@casjo)
8th September 2020, 17:03
If any team failed to give any driver the right tyre during a red flag (not even a pit stop, but a 20-minute-long break) because they FORGOT to warm it up, there would be hell in the radio.
Ocon might not be the most professional driver in the grid, but this is the kind of stuff any driver would have complained about, very loudly.
bosyber (@bosyber)
10th September 2020, 6:14
Yeah, compare to Raikkonen badgering the team until those blankets were on, Ocon definitely had a point here.
Hei Ituaku
7th September 2020, 7:36
The first news i read about esteban today, maybe he is the paddock most hated driver
joe jopling (@jop452)
7th September 2020, 8:11
Ocon does have a valid point though…a multi million works team not prepared for a red flag situation…You can heat tyres quite a few times so it wasnt too hard to have a set ready…And why does the Renault teams cars break down inc practice..more times than Mclaren with the same engine..that is worrying
Balue (@balue)
8th September 2020, 15:33
@jop452 Yes it’s quite surprising sometimes how a team can spend millions in the hope that the car is a tenth faster in order to gain the odd point, but lose a bucket load of points by not having prepared for basic stuff. I guess this is the sporting manager’s responsibility, but also his boss’ fault he didn’t check up on him.
John Ballantyne
7th September 2020, 11:31
Once again F1 has left me confused. I spent the last half of the race after the stoppage wondering why Danni Ricciardo was 9th rather than 5th. Maybe I missed the clear explanation but, remember that in Oz it is nearing 1:00am!
Rapid
7th September 2020, 16:27
What’s with the radio dictatorship? Try that on Alonso.
Aaditya (@neutronstar)
9th September 2020, 3:52
Ocon didn’t say anything that bad post-race on the radio. Renault tried to shut him up ASAP because they were frustrated with the result and embarrassed by their mistake.
bosyber (@bosyber)
10th September 2020, 6:17
Yep, and they should instead take a page out of the Mercedes book @neutronstar, where both Hamilton and subsequently the team took the blame for missing the pit lane being closed. Followed by them getting a script running so they never miss a message like that again before their next race.