---
title: "Ocon on 2016 challenges, Force India move"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2017/01/01/ocon-2016-challenges-force-india-move/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Bethonie Waring"
section: "F1 News"
published: "2017-01-01T15:27:15Z"
modified: "2017-01-01T15:34:11Z"
---

# Ocon on 2016 challenges, Force India move

2016 may have been full of surprises for Esteban Ocon, but the Frenchman has played down just how steep the learning curve has been.

This time last year, Ocon was preparing for a year in DTM and as a test driver for Renault. The plan was to work with the team in the hope of getting into a race seat the following year, that soon changed when he was called to drive for Manor midway through the season.

Whilst the Frenchman did say there was still plenty for him to learn, he claims most of the learning happened before he got into an F1 car.

“You’re trained as a driver and arriving in F1, you’re supposed to have been taught everything, know everything about driving, but you need to work on the car,” Ocon was quoted by [Sport360](https://sport360.com/article/motorsport/formula-one/207091/esteban-ocon-youre-meant-to-be-great-when-you-reach-formula-1/). “You are supposed to be a great driver already and now you have to work on the car.

“There’s always things to improve on the driving, I don’t say I leave my driving on the side, but I focus much more on the car with the guys than on my driving.”

Coming into the championship late did make Ocon’s rookie season more challenging and he admitted to having to learn a lot in a short space of time.

![Clive Rose/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2016/12/613063454.jpg)

“There are always things to improve even more and I’m learning all the time and I’ve learned a massive amount and now it’s the details.

“The biggest surprise was just how tough it is, how important setup work with the engineer is with the car. You can gain a lot of time by focusing more on the car than on yourself. For me, it works better like this. Before in the junior series I was mostly focusing on myself and saying, ‘Leave the car, I have to do a better job’, but actually, that’s not how it works here.”

Ocon’s unexpected year only continued when he was confirmed as Nico Hulkenberg’s replacement for this season. The 20-year-old tested with Force India back in 2015 and believes that that was a deciding factor in his promotion. A promotion does come with a lot of pressure.

“It’s great but also it puts you under some pressure because they think big,” Ocon said. “They think that you will arrive and do a strong job, that’s what they expect. So I have to work very hard to do that, to deliver that. I haven’t delivered it yet, so you need the hard work to be done.”

With a two-year contract in place, Ocon definitely intends to be at Force India until at least the end of 2018, but things don’t always go to plan.

“First, I have to do a good job with Force India, and then in two years you know how many things can happen,” he said. “Look at how much happened in the last six months already! We have time.”