Third-placed starter Ocon declares: “I want my podium”
Esteban Ocon believes he can turn his third position on the Italian Grand Prix starting grid into his first-ever F1 podium finish on Sunday.
Ocon qualified fifth fastest in the wet qualifying session at Monza on Saturday, but is elevated to third due to Red Bull pairing Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo taking grid penalties.
Ocon only just squeezed into Q3, beating his teammate Sergio Perez by 0.002s, but revelled in the wetter top-10 shootout.
“It’s amazing,” said Ocon. “That’s what the team deserves, they work so hard on every aspect. To get that P3 is something amazing.
“The car was brilliant today, a perfect balance, and I managed to push it to the limit. Now we have to keep P3 in the race – I want my podium!
“I adjusted the car [for the conditions] but it will work in the dry like it did on Friday, so starting from there we have a big opportunity ahead and we need to keep our head down to get it.”
The 20-year-old Frenchman, whose best finish so far has been fifth in Barcelona, said he enjoyed the wet conditions of qualifying: “I've been growing up with the rain and it's fantastic to see that in a Formula 1 car I can still manage to do good stuff.
“The team have put so much effort to get those results, and now we start third. I will go give them a big hug right now!”
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