Esteban Ocon finishes 6th; Perez 12th

Monaco, 27 May 2018: Sahara Force India driver Esteban Ocon managed to keep his position and gained a sixth place and very valuable eight points in Monaco on Sunday. Senior teammate Sergio Perez who started inside the top-10 could only finish 12.

After six races, Perez stands 12th in the driver standings with 17 points followed by Ocon in 13th with 9 points.

Esteban Ocon managed a P6 bringing his VJM11-03 safely home. He started on Used Hypersoft and shifted to New Supersofts after 23 laps and went on for the next 55 laps.  “A fantastic result today. I’m really happy and it was great fun. The pace we had was impressive and the team did a fantastic job with the strategy. We had a great understanding of the tyres and there were times during the race when we were the fastest car on the track. In the final few laps I was catching Bottas and Raikkonen by over a second per lap and I was right behind them at the end. It feels great to get this result and a good bunch of points after a few disappointing races. I hope we can have many more weekends like this one,” he said.

Sergio Perez said: “I am disappointed today because we didn’t get the result our pace deserved. We had a problem at the pit stop and this completely ruined our race. Our first stint was strong, we looked after the tyres well and pushed hard just before the stop. We had a good rhythm but we pitted slightly early to react to what was happening around us. We lost some time, but in the second part of the race we had good pace. Unfortunately, it was impossible to overtake. I was quicker than the cars in front, but you need a big advantage to be able pass around here, especially with these very wide cars. I leave Monaco feeling we have lost some important points. Esteban showed what we could do today and it feels like an opportunity lost.”

Chief Operating Officer Otmar Szafnauer said: “Congratulations to the entire team on a well-deserved sixth place in Monaco. Esteban did an excellent job all weekend and hasn’t put a wheel out of place. After his strong qualifying performance it was very satisfying to see him bring home eight points today with a very mature drive. It’s a shame that Sergio had an issue at the pit stop, which undoubtedly cost him the opportunity to finish inside the top ten. He showed good pace in the second half of the race but without track position it was hard to make it count. We take a lot of encouragement from out strong performance this weekend and will look to carry this momentum into Montreal in a couple of weeks’ time.”