Ocon banking on new engine to boost performance at Spa

Esteban Ocon hopes a fresh power unit installed in the back of his R.S.20 for next week's Belgian Grand Prix will help him bridge the performance gap to Renault teammate Daniel Ricciardo.

Except for the Styrian Grand Prix where he qualified P5, Ocon has been outpaced by Ricciardo in qualifying at all races this season and scored four points less than the Aussie.

In Spain last weekend, the Frenchman was never a force to be reckoned with among the midfield runners although the same could be said of his teammate.

Renault has therefore decided to allocate for Spa a new engine and gearbox to Ocon to help him reduce the deficit to Ricciardo.

"Qualifying in fifth in my second Grand Prix was nice, but then we had a missed opportunity in the race. Then we had a little bit of a down in Budapest, then an up in Silverstone, then a down [in Spain]," Ocon said.

"Definitely, I feel Spa is going to be a fresh start.

"Obviously we have a week to analyse, and recover all together, there is going to be a new gearbox, a new engine, a lot of new parts as well, because we’re obviously not happy with the performance difference between the cars.

"But hopefully that will make it closer, and it’s going to be a fresh start for my side of the garage.

"We’re changing the engine for the straightline speed that I was lacking. But there are also other areas, where we feel we’re not as competitive compared to the other side of the garage.

"We’re going to change the power unit and see if it makes a difference or not, but only time will tell. In my mind, I believe yes."

The FIA had initially planned to introduce a ban on qualifying engine modes in Belgium, but the governing body has delayed the new rules until Monza a week later.

• Abiteboul: New CEO Luca de Meo a 'game-changer' for Renault

Ocon believes the ban could help tighten up the field.

"I think we’re good because our race mode is very competitive at the moment," said the Renault charger.

"I don’t know exactly if some manufacturer turns up their engine a bit more in qualifying than others. But what I know is that our race mode is competitive, so hopefully it will play in our favour.

"Let’s see, at the moment we’re fighting against the McLaren, against the Racing Point, so the McLarens are going to be similar to us in the end, because it’s the same engine.

"Let’s see how it turns out, same for everyone, but hopefully it could level up the field."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

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