Esteban Ocon has his fingers crossed that the Canadian Grand Prix does not prove as bumpy as F1's last outing in Azerbaijan. The Alpine driver has aired apprehension regarding the tarmac at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, which has not been raced on for three years, in a country where temperatures can reach opposite extremes. Ocon was one of a list of drivers who complained of back pain following the race in Baku, and he later claimed that support is growing amongst drivers for the FIA to step in to help lessen the effects of porpoising. On Thursday afternoon, the FIA did exactly that as they set out their plan to "reduce or eliminate" the bouncing problems facing teams. However, Ocon is concerned about the tarmac in Montreal. "I think it's going to be a different challenge [compared to Baku]," the Frenchman told media, including RacingNews365.com , as he looked ahead to the race in Canada. "The straights are shorter, although they are still quite long, you need to ride more of the curbs and it's quite a bumpy circuit as well. "It's going to be interesting because we haven't been there for a long [time]. We know that it is very cold in the winter and quite hot in summer, so we don't know how the tarmac has evolved."
Ocon says Alpine not bouncing as bad as others
Mercedes have since claimed that their drivers were pulling up to 6G when porpoising late in the race , leaving Lewis Hamilton at one stage questioning whether he would be fit in time to race in Montreal. Alpine, who demonstrated impressive top speed in Azerbaijan, did not bounce as severely but still encountered enough to cause their drivers problems. It remains to be seen how much they will be affected by the FIA's new plan. "Hopefully it's not going to be too bad," continue Ocon, who has finished inside the points at 10 of his last 12 races. "It was pretty bad [in Baku], especially at the end, which I was surprised at. At low fuel, it was harsher. "I saw drivers in worse shape than me after the race, as we are on the good end of the spectrum. But yeah, it was definitely not nice towards the end."
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