Ocon 'will keep moving forward' in first GP

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While Esteban Ocon has taken part in five Grand Prix practice sessions as a test and development driver for Renault, Saturday was his first taste of actual Formula One qualifying since his promotion to full time race status at Manor over the summer.

"It is not an easy thing to come midway through the season," the 19-year-old French driver admitted after qualifying in 18th place at Spa-Francorchamps.

"I’ve got 12 Grands Prix to catch in experience on free practice sessions so, of course, it’s tough," he added. "I am disappointed to end up so close to being in Q2 – it’s never nice to end up that close and not being in Q2.

"But in the end I made a really good step on the second supersoft set. I was quick this morning on the soft, but I just lacked a bit of speed on the supersoft. That should come on the other Grands Prix."

One of the biggest differences Ocon has found this weekend over GP3 and DTM is how finely balanced the tyres are in terms of being able to deliver their optimal performance.

"It’s very tough – it’s a small window to use them. It’s the toughest tyre I’ve been working on by far. You’ve got a bit of margin to use on the soft and medium but [on the supersoft] you don’t so I need to keep working to get it right.

"We have a lot of deg, everyone has a lot of deg, because of the heat – it’s not usual to have that much heat in Spa so it makes the thing even more difficult. But it’s the same for everybody…"

Having completed another landmark in his driving career, Ocon faces another in under 24 hours when he lines up on the starting grid for his very first Formula One race. And he made it clear, he's not there just to make up the numbers and the goal is not simply 'to finish'.

"No, that’s a quote for losers! I want to move forward and do a good job – that’s most important. For me to be satisfied, the team to be satisfied. To see everything work, I have to learn quickly and make progress.

"I think there is a lot of opportunities here – long straights, tight first corner and we’ve got good straight-line speed – so we have to be opportunistic and see how it goes.

"[I'll] take the opportunities how they are, how they come. I think we can do well in the race."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.