09/08/2020
NEWS STORY
Renault DP World F1 Team collected four points from a strategy-dominated Emirates 70th Anniversary Grand Prix with Esteban Ocon rising six places to finish eighth place at Silverstone. Daniel Ricciardo suffered a spin on lap 31 and finished outside the points in fourteenth.
Both drivers made good getaways off the line with Esteban gaining two places from fourteenth to twelfth and Daniel holding onto sixth after starting fifth at the end of the first lap.
Strategy was always going to be the key factor in the race with softer tyre compounds on offer compared to last weekend's race at the same circuit.
Daniel pitted on lap 14 for Mediums on a projected two-stop with Esteban pitting on lap 22 for Hards on his bold one-stop effort.
Daniel was struggling on his Mediums and pitted on lap 26 for Hards. With a handful of cars jostling for position, Daniel spun on lap 31 at Turn 4, which more or less put paid to any hopes of scoring points.
Esteban, meanwhile, lapped strongly on Hard tyres in eighth place and was able to comfortably manage the gap to the cars behind. He crossed the line a solid eighth place.
Daniel Ricciardo: "Today was just one of those days where things got progressively worse and worse. It was going okay at the beginning, maintaining sixth and hanging on pace-wise to the cars ahead. We pitted for another Medium and I was struggling to hold onto them. We had to pit for the Hard and then it got messy at Turn 3 and I lost the rear defending from Carlos [Sainz] and had the spin. The race was done then. We have to accept it, take it on the chin and go again in Barcelona. It's a frustrating one today, but there are lots of positives from the two weeks at Silverstone and we can draw on that looking forward."
Esteban Ocon: "That was definitely a very good Sunday for us. We made a solid start, managed the tyres well, received good communication from the team and it was a great pit-stop from the mechanics. It looked to be a very tough race in terms of tyres, especially on an aggressive strategy, but we managed to get that sorted and, in the end, we had a lot of pace. We just kept the tyres alive as best we could and managed to keep cars behind, so we're very happy with the result. I don't think we could have done much more from fourteenth on the grid. Our target is to qualify better - we have the pace for that - and then we can really fight for more points."
Cyril Abiteboul, Team Principal: "Mixed feelings after today with one car in the top ten and the other outside the points. Given Esteban's starting position, his race should be praised, gaining six places in a race like today in a very competitive field is quite something. He, and the team, made the one-stop work. It was perfectly executed by him, the pit-wall and the pit crew. His progression in the race certainly contrasts with Daniel who was starting from fifth on the grid. His plan was for a two-stop. His first stint was strong, and we pitted him at the right time to avoid traffic when he exited. His second stint, though, was not competitive at all and we had to call him for an early stop, which compromised the rest of his race. He had a fantastic Saturday - outright fifth on pure pace - and also a good race last weekend. From his starting position today, we were clearly aiming for a better result. We need to assess that second stint and take that on board for upcoming races. Barcelona will undoubtedly see a repeat of hot conditions with similar high energy on the tyres from the high-speed corners. We've made a positive step in competitiveness in qualifying. We must confirm it next weekend and get on top of this counter-performance on the Medium compound. We must be able to do better even with tricky tyre selection."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Silverstone, here.