Autosportfoto

Ocon’s attitude, speed and ability won us over – Force India

Force India's Chief Operating Officer Otmar Szafnauer says the team picked Esteban Ocon for 2017 over other options after being thoroughly convinced by his racing attitude as well as his raw speed.

Ocon will join Sergio Perez as Force Inida's driver line-up for the 2017 F1 World Championship after Nico Hulkenberg left for Renault.

The French driver comes to the Silverstone-based squad as a relatively inexperienced rookie having completed just half a season for Manor this year when he replaced Rio Haryanto alongside Pascal Wehrlein.

Despite this, Szafnauer fully expects Ocon to be up for the challenge having seen him in action first hand having had the former GP3 Series champion as Force India's test driver in 2015.

Ocon, who was selected over fellow Mercedes factory driver Wehrlein, was picked for his attitude and speed which Szafnauer feels is better suited to the Silverstone-based squad over other options.

"We deliberated long and hard. We know Esteban and that helps," Szafnauer said. "We ran him in two different tests and we were impressed with both his speed and his ability to learn.

"Also with his attitude to racing and his attitude towards learning and we thought he was a good fit for us and that's why we chose him over some of the others." 

Zdroj: crash.net