Manor racing director Dave Ryan says Esteban Ocon has “huge potential”, while also praising the Frenchman’s “fantastic attitude” since his Formula One graduation.
Having replaced Rio Haryanto after the summer break, Ocon kicked off his grand prix career with a trio of challenging races amid reliability issues.
The 20-year-old turned a corner in Malaysia where, aided by a new seating position to accommodate his tall frame, he outqualified team-mate Pascal Wehrlein for the first time.
“To arrive part-way through the season into a team that has been developing along with Pascal is a big ask,” Ryan is quoted as saying at Sepang by Crash.net.
“We haven't helped the situation because he hasn't had the best of reliability up until now. But the kid's fantastic. He's got a fantastic attitude, he's got huge potential and together with him and Pascal it's a great driving line-up.”
Ocon followed up his Malaysia breakthrough with a strong weekend in Japan where he beat Wehrlein in both qualifying and the race.
The Normandy-born racer, who remains a Mercedes junior but also serves as Renault’s third driver, has been tipped for a full-time role with the French manufacturer in 2017, where he would partner new recruit Nico Hulkenberg.
Silbermann investigates the potential EU threat to F1's Liberty Media deal
2017 F1 driver line-ups so far
Scene at the 2016 Japanese Grand Prix
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
Fred Vasseur has made it clear that Ferrari’s decision to publicly address speculation over his…
Max Verstappen emerged from Formula 1’s first day back at Sepang with plenty of encouragement…
Lewis Hamilton escaped with little more than a slap on the wrist after impeding Audi’s…
George Russell resisted the temptation to draw any grand conclusions from Mercedes’ much-anticipated W17 upgrade…
A sweltering Friday in Sepang delivered a hectic opening day as Max Verstappen and Charles…
Flavio Briatore has drawn a line under Alpine’s bruising Azerbaijan Grand Prix, admitting he was…