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Esteban Ocon was left frustrated by the red flag at the end of Q3. The Alpine driver was on a fast lap that was four-tenths of a second quicker than his teammate's in the first sector. However, it all came to naught as Sergio Perez crashed near the tunnel and the Frenchman's teammate Fernando Alonso found himself in the wall at Portimao as well in the final moments of the qualifying session.
Speaking to the media after qualifying, Ocon was visibly frustrated as he felt that a P7 result or better had been possible for him. He said:
“A bit of frustration definitely! I’m a bit frustrated because I was on for a better lap, probably P7 or better, so, yeah, It’s hard. Looking at the first three sessions, it’s looking like a very good job done on the car because we had no pace at all in the first three practice sessions, we had no confidence pushing the car, the car was moving everywhere I was fighting it everywhere I could, so, I’m pretty pleased with getting into Q3 obviously but there was a bit more possible today.”
Esteban Ocon did not have a perfect weekend until qualifying, and the French driver struggled throughout the free practice sessions to get anywhere near a second of Fernando Alonso's time. All things considered, it was a commendable recovery from him in qualifying.
Esteban Ocon: I want to finish in the points again this weekend
Esteban Ocon will be starting the race in P10. When questioned about where he felt he could finish in the race, especially considering the unpredictable weather, the Alpine driver stated that his goal was to finish in the points. The 25-year-old also welcomed the chance of rain making an appearance during the race and switching things up! He said:
“Yeah, for sure! Last year I started in P11 and finished P9, in the points. I want to finish in the points again this weekend and if it can rain, even better! It can bring some show to us!”
Ocon remains optimistic about the race. His teammate Fernando Alonso will start the race in P7 and both will be looking to score some valuable points for the team.
