Manor Formula One rookie Esteban Ocon says handling blue flags during a race is “not easy” and adds that “compromises” are needed between the leaders and the backmarkers.
Blue flags were a much-discussed topic in the aftermath of last Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix, as several frontrunners complained of losing time in traffic.
Ferrari team-mates Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were the most vocal in their criticisms, with the four-time world champion hinting that he lost out to Lewis Hamilton for P3 partly after locking up when lapping one of the Manors.
“[Suzuka] is a track that is so narrow and there are so many high-speed corners that when you are one second away you interfere with the guy behind,” Ocon said in response to complaints about backmarkers. “It’s not easy, we are not going to let them pass if we are three seconds ahead.
“The amount of time we lose, we try to gain 0.1s on a lap and then we let them past from three seconds ahead and we lose three seconds. So you have to make compromises.
“We fight for what we have, they also fight, so at the end we are both in our race and we try to make the best possible but sometimes it is like this.”
When pointed to him that the amount of complaints in Japan was noticeable compared to other events, the Frenchman added: “It’s always been like this. I think it’s not because the cars go quicker or not.
“I think also before when you are behind there was more aero on the cars and you are also losing speed. Probably they complain, if they complain for me it’s the same thing. I don’t care!”
DRIVER RATINGS: Japanese Grand Prix
REPORT: Rosberg wins in Japan as Hamilton fights back to third
Breakfast with ... Tetsuo Tsugawa
FEATURE: Silbermann says... Snapchat and soap in Suzuka
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
Sebastian Montoya, the 19-year-old son of former Formula 1 star Juan Pablo Montoya, is set…
When former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto took on the role of Chief Operating Officer…
Charles Leclerc concluded the 2024 F1 season with a sense of satisfaction, the Ferrari driver…
Former Formula 1 driver David Coulthard has voiced his dismay at FIA president Mohammed Ben…
Super Aguri's application to join Formula 1 became a reality on this day in 2005,…
Ferrari roared back into contention in 2024 to deliver their strongest season in years, thanks…