F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Frustrated Ocon muzzled by Renault pitwall on cool-down lap

A frustrated Esteban Ocon was restricted from venting his grievances at the end of the Italian Grand Prix, the Frenchman beeing called to order by the Renault pitwall on his cool-down lap.

Ocon was not a happy camper after Sunday's race, having been forced to restart the red flagged race on a set of soft tyres because his team had failed to prepare a set of the preferred and more durable medium compound rubber.

Ocon eventually crossed the checkered flag P8 despite the degradation of his red-rimmed Pirelli softs.

On his cool-down lap, after his race engineer praised his performance, a disappointed Ocon alluded to his team's tyre choice blunder but was immediately brought into line by his team as the following exchange unfolded.

Engineer: Esteban, fanastic job there. Fantastic job, well done mate. P8 from P12 is not bad at all.
Ocon: I disagree. I think we missed out completely in this race. It was a massive opportunity...
Engineer: Just hold it on the radio, hold it on the radio please. We will talk about it in the office. Thank you
Ocon: No, we have to face what the reality…
Engineer: Please, do not talk about it on the radio.
Abiteboul: Esteban, this is not the place.

After the dust had settled, a composed Ocon chose to view the glass as half full.

"Of course, we had in mind to get a good start with those soft tyres, unfortunately my medium set was not ready to go," he said, quoted by RaceFans.

"We couldn’t choose it, otherwise we would have done. So it was very good pace the first two laps but on the third lap, it did degrade quite significantly.

"I was not obviously so happy about the balance and how things evolved after that.

"So I think if we had to do it again, we would have chosen the medium but obviously they were not ready and in condition."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

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

 

Michael Delaney

Recent Posts

Piastri missing ‘the feeling of stress’ outside title fight

Oscar Piastri has discovered an unexpected downside to a season spent away from Formula 1's…

11 hours ago

Bearman opens up on ‘horrible’ triple header with Haas

Oliver Bearman is ready to put some distance between himself and Formula 1 after a…

12 hours ago

Honda baffled by battery mystery as Stroll retires again

Lance Stroll’s 2026 campaign has become a frustrating sequence of mechanical setbacks. The Canadian’s Sao…

13 hours ago

A nod to Formula 1's first female driver

Maria Teresa de Filippis - motorsport's first female F1 Grand Prix driver - was born…

15 hours ago

Ricciardo: Verstappen will go down as ‘one of the best ever’

Daniel Ricciardo has never been short of admiration for Max Verstappen, but the retired Australian…

16 hours ago

'He's very lucky': Coulthard takes aim at Norris' podium antics

David Coulthard admires Lando Norris’s ability to thread a Formula 1 car through treacherous conditions…

17 hours ago