At the end of the 2018 season, the Racing Point team let go of Esteban Ocon, in favour of Lance Stroll. Since then, he spent a year away from the sport and took on the Mercedes reserve driver role. Luckily for the young Frenchman, the Renault F1 team recruited him to partner Daniel Ricciardo.
However, Ocon’s arrival meant that Nico Hulkenberg had to make way for the French driver. Now that Ocon has been properly integrated into the team, he has noted the difference between Mercedes AMG F1 and Renault.
Speaking to GQ magazine, he said, “Formula 1 is all about the details and it is clear that Mercedes is now better than Renault in everything. That makes sense because otherwise, you won’t win those six titles. However, now I am a Renault driver and I will do everything in my power to bring Renault back to the top.”
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He that Renault must hit the ground running and gun for fourth place in the championship. Ocon admitted that 4th is a realistic target for Renault as, Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari are in a league of their own.
However, Esteban Ocon insisted that the Renault team will work hard every day to improve themselves. Though he is aware that such a task will not be easy in a fast-growing environment like Formula 1.
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Can Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo lead Renault to a top 4 finish?
Admittedly, Renault had a poor 2019 season with a number of reliability issues and losing 4th to McLaren. This time around, they hope that a of Ocon’s calibre will spark a successful 2020 season. Especially when he is alongside an experienced head like Daniel Ricciardo.
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In fact, Ricciardo is happy with his pre-season testing performance. Clearly, Renault made some massive strides over the winter, with Ricciardo banging in a 1m16.276s.
Furthermore, Renault and McLaren were the only teams without any reliability issues. However, Ricciardo chose not to be complacent. Instead, he insisted that there’s still a lot of work ahead of them. For now, the French outfit, Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo are looking forward to the start of 2020