Esteban Ocon was disappointed to miss out on a podium in Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix but concedes sixth place was the ‘maximum he could achieve’.
Ocon grabbed third place from Lance Stroll at the start but predictably failed to hold station, passed by Valtteri Bottas, Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen.
The wait goes on, then, for the Frenchman’s first career podium, but he was satisfied with an eight-point haul.
“I really enjoyed the race and I’m happy with our performance,” the 20-year-old said.
“At the same time I’m a little disappointed because I really wanted to finish on the podium today.
“But you have to be realistic and we didn’t have the pace to match Mercedes and Ferrari, so I think sixth place was the maximum we could achieve.”
“At one stage we were racing against Raikkonen and I thought we could keep him behind, but he was just too quick.
“I also had a good battle with Stroll for most of the race and I had to work hard to keep him behind me.
“With the strong qualifying yesterday and the sixth place today, it’s been a great weekend.
“I have to say a big thanks to the whole team for all their hard work and for giving me such a competitive car.”
Ocon is now just three points behind team-mate Sergio Perez in the championship.
