Esteban Ocon has 'mixed feelings' after missing on podium in Italian GP

After his career-best qualifying position of third, Esteban Ocon made a good start in the Italian Grand Prix, slotting himself in second behind Mercedes Lewis Hamilton.

The Frenchman stayed in the position until the faster Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel took him on, while later on it was Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen cleaning him up as well.

He then ran a solid race keeping the Williams duo of Lance Stroll and Felipe Massa to secure sixth position. "[I have] mixed feelings I would say," started Ocon. "I am happy with P6 definitely.

"But I wanted my podium which I didn’t get today, so I am still hungry for it. But [all in all] we maximized the result really. The Ferraris were faster than us, I had a good fight with them.

"I thought I could keep Raikkonen behind but I didn’t manage and then [the] Red Bull was faster [as well]. So, P6 and P3 in qualifying was maximum we could have done this weekend," he summed up.

"For sure today we didn’t have the pace to achieve it [podium], but we never know in the future. We have a fast car all the time.

"[And] today there was no DNF, nothing, so the luck was totally not on our side on that aspect but if it rains or something happens, and I am still there [in the position], I want to get the podium."

Meanwhile, teammate Sergio Perez had a chaotic start from 10th after receiving a gearbox penalty. He made a slight contact with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and Massa in the first corner.

A slow pit stop also cost him time on the road, as the gap to Massa was too much in the end to cover and make the pass stick - with the Mexican ending up ninth, a mere 0.442s behind the Brazilian.

"Today, the car felt good and I was strong in the first stint, despite some damage picked up at Turn two, but things got more difficult after the pit-stop," said Perez.

"We had a slow stop and I got stuck in traffic, I think I lost a couple of seconds and that’s what made the difference between us and Williams.

"We gave everything to get back to them, but we ran out of laps to pass them. Perhaps with two extra laps I would have made it, but that’s racing.

"Even though I expected a bit more, we still rescued a few points and I am happy with this result," the Mexican added, sitting seventh in the drivers' standings on 58 points.

Teammate Ocon, meanwhile, has caught up Perez in the standings with the Frenchman now only three points adrift, as the Mercedes junior continues to impress.

But the Indian outfit's fourth place in the constructors' championship seems in the bank as it added more points to take the tally to 113, while Williams has only 55 with seven races remaining in the 2017 Formula 1 season.

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