Ocon authorized to reveal certain Mercedes 'secrets' to Renault

Renault recruit Esteban Ocon says he was allowed by former employer Mercedes to carry over a limited amount of "secrets" when he moved to the French outfit at the end of last year.

After circumstances robbed him of his seat with Racing Point for 2019, Ocon spent a year on the sidelines as Mercedes' reserve and simulator driver.

The Frenchman embedded with the Silver Arrows outfit on Grand Prix weekends and was obviously privy to technical briefings at the track and back at the Mercedes factory in Brackley.

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With no 'gardening leave' period applying to drivers, Ocon's transfer to Renault automatically implied a transfer of knowledge, most of which was authorized by Mercedes, with whom Ocon retains an affiliation through his manager Toto Wolff.

"I come out of there a lot stronger than I was, with a lot more knowledge on the technical side, but also on the other aspects of the organisation, the way they see things in different conditions, the way they just behave in any situation," explained Ocon at Wednesday's Renault launch.

"I had an eye on all of that, which is completely different than even if I was driving, you know? So, definitely it has helped me.

"Of course, this year I was trying to give, to some extent, some of that - you have to be professional always, not give all the secrets, because the engineers, they all have to be a year out before coming back to another team, it's not the case for a driver," he added.

"But I still take things a lot. Within limits, I took stuff here, which both teams agreed. And yeah, so far, it's been good, I was very much involved in the development of this year's car.

"So, now it's exciting times, because - you didn't see it much here [at the launch], but it is pretty different. Since a couple of years, the guys at the factory, they say it's probably the biggest step since three or four years."

As a former Renault development driver during the period the preceded his graduation to Formula 1, Ocon was no stranger to Enstone.

But the 23-year-old admits he didn't recognize his team's factory upon his return, insisting the infrastructure was almost as impressive as what he experienced at Mercedes.

"It's still not as big, that's for sure," he said. "But the amount of effort that's been put into the development of the team since 2016 - I mean, when I came in, I was lost at the entrance.

"I've gone left, normally there were stairs going down, and here there was a full new room, full of designers and everything.

"These full new equipments, new machines, new rooms, new computers - well, everywhere you look is new."

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