'Best of the rest' Ocon hung it out in qualifying!

Force India's Esteban Ocon says he put in a barn burner lap on Saturday to qualify sixth for the US Grand Prix in Austin.

The man who may be heading to the unemployment line next year delivered a scintillating performance, outpacing Renault's Nico Hulkenberg for P6 by just 0.070s.

• Hamilton hangs on to pip Vettel to pole position in Austin

"When I crossed the line I felt like ‘wow there's not a lot left in there’," was the Frenchman's first reaction when the session was done and dusted.

"I am really happy with our performance today. It’s awesome to be sixth on the grid – the best of the rest – but it was a really close session all the way through.

"In Q3, my lap was very strong and the car was working really well. It was enough for P6 so today we are really happy."

There was a minor alert however in the Force India camp on Saturday evening, when Ocon, along with Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas, was summoned to the stewards "for driving unnecessarily slowly on an in-lap during qualifying.

Ultimately however, both men escaped punishment as the stewards took no further action.

Ocon will launch his race from the third row, alongside Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, and Force India's pink panther is determined to hold his own on Sunday and deliver another good haul of points to his team.

"The aim is to stay where we are and bring home the points," he said.

"The race pace is a bit unknown because of the wet weather yesterday but I think we can be just as competitive tomorrow.

"The only thing I can do is do my talking on track, that is what I try to do. My motivation is as high as it can be and I'm pushing hard."

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