Alpine driver delighted with his three points in the sprint race in Austria, but sees he could have a fight with Russell if it weren't for Mercedes' excellent performance
Esteban Ocon did what he could with the Alpine in Saturday's sprint race, which Max Verstappen won by a landslide. The Frenchman's sixth place was enough for a race with few overtaking opportunities.
"I'm definitely very satisfied with sixth place. We made a decent start and I was ahead of Kevin [Magnussen] for the first few laps, before building a comfortable lead over the two Haas," said Ocon.
Esteban well tried to get close to George Russell to fight for fourth place, but his Alpine didn't have the pace to do so. "Mercedes was too fast for us, but in the end I feel we gave it all we had today by securing a good starting position for Sunday's GP," he said.
Ocon's excitement was also due to the three points he gained in the Drivers' World Championship table, increasing to 42 and only four behind Valtteri Bottas. The points could have been more if it hadn't been for a collision at the start, which involved, among others, Hamilton and Gasly.
"We picked up some points along the way. Maybe if we had another lap, it could be a different story. The team is investigating what happened, but I'm confident we can be ready for tomorrow," Ocon finished.
GRANDE PRÊMIO follows LIVE and INREAL TIME all the activities of theAustrian GP weekend. On Sunday, the start is scheduled for 10:00 am (GMT-3).