Esteban Ocon reveals 'head exploding' fear

Esteban Ocon has explained how he felt his head "is still about to explode" with all the demands placed on F1 drivers after Australian Grand Prix qualifying.

Ocon will line up 13th on the grid in Melbourne, one place behind team-mate Oliver Bearman, as the new energy demands on drivers were highlighted for the first time. 

Reaction to the energy-harvesting requirements has been near-universal in its condemnation from the field, with even champions McLaren, powered by a class-leading Mercedes HPP, on the back foot. 

Albert Park will be one of the worst circuits for energy harvesting owing to the long straights and lack of heavy braking zones, leading to Ocon to claim his head was "exploding", such is the workload drivers are now facing.

"I think we are not as free to do what we want to be doing," Ocon told the media, including RacingNews365. 

"We have to do things which are very artificial to try and make the rules work, and that's where the problem is at the moment. 

"The cars are more comfortable to drive, of course, it is not as quick as last year, but it is a nicer ride, and it slides a bit more; it is a nicer feeling, a bit more like the 2020 days in terms of driving style. 

"But engine-wise, it is a bit tricky. So, for example, if you go too fast on the throttle at the exit of Turn 6, you lose two or three tenths in the lap, which is not how it should be. 

"In the build-up to the weekend, my head might be exploding with all the stuff, and it is still about to explode; there is too much going on."

As for his qualifying, Ocon rued a "missed opportunity" of a potential Q3 berth after a mistake on his final run. 

"From what I've heard from the engineers, they basically said I lost rear load on the last run, which I felt on my best lap in the last sector, but I carried it throughout the whole lap on the last run," he added.

"I was like seven-tenths slower than where I should be, so there was maybe more to play for, potentially a Q3 spot, looking at if I did the normal improvement from one run to the other. 

"So it is a missed opportunity. We need to look at it and see exactly what happened, so it is a shame.

"Basically, I had instability into every corner. It wasn't the case when we started qualifying, so either something degraded or something broke; we don't know yet."