Pressiteade
A thrilling final lap saw the team add more points to their haul fromthe race with Daniel taking the Fastest Lap – a bonus point – and Estebanpassing Lance Stroll for ninth place with a fantastic move at Turn 11.
The team finishes the 2020 FIA Formula 1 World Championship in fifthplace in the Constructors’ Championship with Daniel fifth and Esteban twelfthin the Drivers’ Championship.
Esteban started from tenth on Mediums with Daniel on Hards a positionbehind. Esteban gained a place on lap one while Daniel held his originalstarting spot. An early VSC, which was upgraded to a full Safety Car, led toEsteban pitting for Hard tyres with a superb stop from the crew allowing him tojump Daniil Kvyat. Daniel remained out on Hard tyres to occupy fifth place.
With Esteban making gains towards the top ten, Daniel extended hisstint to find a pit window inside the points. That gap opened up with Danielpitting on lap 40 for Mediums to slot into seventh place. He held that place tothe flag, bagging the Fastest Lap with a stellar effort on his final lap inRenault DP World F1 Team colours. Esteban then improved from tenth to ninthwith his overtake on Stroll to cross the line with two points.
Daniel Ricciardo, started P11, finished P7, plus Fastest Lap:
“Considering we started eleventh I’m really satisfied with seventhposition tonight. My stint on the Hard tyres at the beginning was really strongand the car felt good the whole time. The Safety Car changed things slightly,but we couldn’t progress fast enough to catch the cars ahead. I know we didn’tmanage to finish third in the Constructors’ Championship but, overall, it’sbeen a strong season for the team and compared to last year it’s a great stepforward. My last lap in the car was the fastest on track and I was pushing hardfor that. Very nice! Merci beaucoup to the team for an awesome two years!”
Esteban Ocon, started P10, finished P9:
“It was a challenging race for us today, but I was happy with how itended with the last lap overtake on Lance [Stroll]. We fought to the end and wecan be pleased with that. We have some things to review, it wasn’t an easyfirst stint and we got stuck behind some cars. Towards the end, though, the carcame alive and that was very fun. I think today’s race actually tells the storyabout our year: we didn’t start so great, but we ended it very well! We knowthe areas we can improve. A big thanks to everyone at the team and at thefactories in Enstone and Viry for their hard work this season and also thanksfor Daniel as my team-mate this year. I wish him the best for his next journey.”
Cyril Abiteboul, Team Principal:
“Despite being strong, today’s race could not overturnan adverse championship situation and a poor qualifying yesterday. We werequick in practice and picked up the fastest lap in the race, but today’soverall performance is probably the best we could do given our startingpositions. We managed to make a reverse strategy work with Daniel. Hedrove brilliantly in his first stint on Hards, going long and then waiting tosee if a safety car could occur. It didn’t happen but he ended up gaining fourpositions and the fastest lap, more than any other driver. Estebanhad a more conventional race and struggled a bit with the Mediums, but he madeus very proud by overtaking Stroll on the last lap. That fighting spirit, inwhich we gained three points in one lap, is what I want to take away from theweekend, and on which we should continue to build the team. Despite today’seffort, we finish P5, which is disappointing given where we were only a fewraces ago, but there are solid foundations to build on. We have a number ofdetails in the execution that need to be improved ahead of next year, while theoverall car performance needs to make another step like the one we have donethis year. For now the race team will take a very well deserved break afterTuesday’s test, and I would like to thank them a lot for the discipline and thecommitment they have shown dealing with the guidelines, which often meant somepersonal sacrifices. Hopefully next year will be a step closer to normality.Congratulations also to McLaren. They were P9 when we started our journeytogether. They finish P3. We are proud of having directly contributed to theirrebirth.”
