Esteban Ocon insists there is "no panic" after a bad start to the season for Force India. The small Silverstone based team finished fourth overall in 2016 and 2017, but now Renault, McLaren and even Haas look set to displace Force India this year.
"I suppose some (fans) are afraid that after Melbourne things will continue to be like that," Ocon told France's Auto Hebdo. "So that there is no misunderstanding, I want to tell everyone that there is no panic. Yes we are behind and there is a lot to do to return to the fight for the top five positions."
"But I'm not worried," the French driver added. "Everything changes very quickly in formula one and our car has great potential for improvement. We learned a lot about the chassis in Australia and we are preparing a lot of new parts -- some of them will be on the car in Bahrain already. Last year we struggled in Melbourne too but we quickly made progress. The season is long," the 21-year-old added.
"Our car is better and faster than its predecessor, but our rivals made more progress. But the key to success is development. We already made a big step forward in comparison to the tests, as it was easier to drive the car in Australia," said Ocon. "We do not believe that we have failed already -- we only have small problems, and believe me, now we are trying to put everything right."
Esteban Ocon: "No panic at struggling Force India"
- Published on 04 Apr 2018 11:38
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- By: Rob Veenstra
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G. Russell
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Feb 11
L. Norris
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Feb 12
C. Leclerc
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Feb 13
A. Antonelli
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Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
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Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
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Spain
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Bahrain
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Bahrain
Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
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Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
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Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
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Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
6 - Mar 8
Australia
Albert Park
13 - Mar 15
27 - Mar 29
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Circuit Suzuka
10 - Apr 12
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Bahrain International Circuit
17 - Apr 19
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1 - May 3
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22 - May 24
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Gilles Villeneuve
5 - Jun 7
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Monte Carlo
12 - Jun 14
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Circuit de Catalunya
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Red Bull Ring
3 - Jul 5
United Kingdom
Silverstone
17 - Jul 19
Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
24 - Jul 26
Hungary
Hungaroring
21 - Aug 23
Netherlands
Circuit Zandvoort
4 - Sep 6
Italy
Monza
11 - Sep 13
Spain
Madring
Driver profile
- Team Haas F1
- Points 487
- Podiums 4
- Grand Prix 193
- Country FR
- Date of b. Sep 17 1996 (29)
- Place of b. Évreux, FR
- Weight 66 kg
- Length 1.86 m
- 62,701 comments on Haas F1
2 members have this team as their favourite
Tweets about Esteban Ocon
Team profile
- Team name Force India
- Base Silverstone, India
- Sergio Perez 11
- Sergio Perez 11
- Nico Hülkenberg 12
- Adrian Sutil 14
- Adrian Sutil 15
- Lance Stroll 18
- Adrian Sutil 20
- Nico Hülkenberg 27
- Nico Hülkenberg 27
- Esteban Ocon 31
- Esteban Ocon 31
- 96,021 comments on Force India
- 8 members have this team as their favourite
- Tweets about Force India
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