Ocon admits DTM has been tougher than expected

The Mercedes protege – who also acts as Renault's third driver in Formula 1 – was placed in the Germany-based championship this year following his title-winning GP3 campaign in 2015.

But, driving for the ART Mercedes squad, the 19-year-old has struggled to make an impression, only scoring points for the first time with a ninth-place finish in the first race at Zandvoort last month.

Speaking at Hockenheim, Ocon conceded that he had been anticipating fighting further up the field, and that he had underestimated the depth of the competition that exists in DTM.

"It's a tough series, and there are differences between manufacturers, performance weights as well, which changes things all the time," he said.

"But performance is not really what I need, I need to learn everything and be ready to take the next step. That's what my management want for me, they decided DTM was the best option to be ready for next year.

"Of course I was expecting it to be easier, to be at the front. But you soon realise that 'OK they are very fast drivers', there are older champions there.

"It's a series where you need experience, the car is different to drive, and because it's heavy you don't make so much difference just by driving it.

"You need to work more on set-up than you usually do, so you need experience to get quick. But I'm improving, I scored points in the last weekend [at Zandvoort] – finally! I'm enjoying it."

Asked by Motorsport.com if he was still happy with the choice to do DTM instead of progressing to GP2, Ocon added: "Definitely.

"It's a very high level series, one of the toughest for sure. I'm still happy."

With the GP2 points table still extremely tight, Ocon played down suggestions he could have been following in Stoffel Vandoorne's footsteps and dominating the series had he chosen it instead.

"It's always tough to win a championship, but no one has been consistent in GP2, which is why there is no one running in front, like Stoffel last year," said the Frenchman.

"He was really consistent, which is how he managed to win so early. But you never know, maybe it's a crazy high level and that's why it's like this."