Ocon rues final lap off-track move by Sainz

Esteban Ocon was happy to pick up more points in Montreal, but the Force India driver reckons he left a better result on the table.

Ocon enjoyed a blistering start to his afternoon of racing, getting the measure of Renault's Nico Hulkenberg at the outset and remaining ahead of the German until his pitstop on lap 11.

Unfortunately, a lengthy tyre change enabled both Renault's to gain the upper, with Ocon racing in their wake for the remainder of the afternoon.

"It’s good to pick up more points, but we had the potential to score even more today," said the Frenchman.

"I had a fantastic first lap and got ahead of Hulkenberg, which was the target, and I was running well in seventh place.

"Then we had a small issue at the pit stop, which cost us a couple of seconds, and it dropped me down behind both of the Renaults."

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While Hulkenberg was out of reach, Sainz fell into Ocon's clutches in the closing laps of the race, but a marginal move on the final lap by the Spaniard put to rest the Force India driver's ambitions of wrestling eighth from his rival.

"I tried my best to fight back and I came close to catching Sainz in the final few laps, but it wasn’t possible to overtake, especially after he cut the track and gained some time on the final lap when I was about to overtake him," lamented Ocon.

"It’s a shame because the strategy should have worked really well. I will focus on the positives because it’s been a strong performance by the team this weekend.

"We can be satisfied with what we have done here. The pace has been competitive, but we need to keep pushing."

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