Podium finish still out of reach for Ocon

40

Esteban Ocon was hoping to achieve his first podium finish on Sunday at Monza, but a relative lack of pace meant the Force India driver was never in contention for a top-3 finish.

The French driver enjoyed a perfect launch off the grid, stealing Lance Stroll's thunder by passing the Williams drivers into Turn 1 and running second to Lewis Hamilton in the opening laps of the race.

Gradually however, Ocon was overhauled by the faster Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, before later succumbing to attacks from Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen.

Hamilton breezes to easy victory in Italian Grand Prix

"I really enjoyed the race and I’m happy with our performance," said Ocon.

"At the same time I’m a little disappointed because I really wanted to finish on the podium today.

"But you have to be realistic and we didn’t have the pace to match Mercedes and Ferrari, so I think sixth place was the maximum we could achieve."

"At one stage we were racing against Raikkonen and I thought we could keep him behind, but he was just too quick. I also had a good battle with Stroll for most of the race and I had to work hard to keep him behind me.

"With the strong qualifying yesterday and the sixth place today, it’s been a great weekend. I have to say a big thanks to the whole team for all their hard work and for giving me such a competitive car."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.