Esteban Ocon admits he was only feeling "50 per cent" physically in the Miami Grand Prix following a heavy accident in Free Practice 3 on Saturday. During the final practice hour of the weekend, Ocon lost control of his Alpine heading into Turn 14 of the Miami International Autodrome, and hit the wall sideways. The impact meant that the driver was taken for precautionary checks at the Medical Centre and, whilst he was able to race on Sunday, he says that he could still feel the effects of the incident in his body, particularly in his knees, lower back and heels. "It was 51G, so pretty painful," Ocon told media, including RacingNews365.com .
Ocon faced "different challenge" in Miami GP
Ocon's practice crash meant that he was unable to take part in Saturday's qualifying session, due to the team discovering a crack in the chassis of his A522. This left him down in P20 on the starting grid for Sunday's race. However, the Frenchman was able to work his way through the field, and eventually finished the Grand Prix in P8. Ocon admits that this scenario poses different pros and cons, but in general he struggled to enjoy the race due to a combination of his physical side effects and the humidity in Miami. "It is a different challenge, for sure," he explained when asked if he relished the idea of having nothing to lose by starting from the back of the grid. "It can go wrong, it can go right. Today it went right, but it's not very enjoyable to race being 50 per cent physically. "It's as hard as Singapore here, in terms of humidity."
Thoughts on the Miami track
Following his accident in practice, Ocon was vocal about his belief that changes needed to be made to the barriers at Turn 14, with Carlos Sainz having experienced a similar crash at the same area of the circuit on Friday. The driver believes that barrier cushioning is required at the corner, in order to lessen the impact of such an incident. There have been comments made from other drivers about various aspects of the new Miami International Autodrome over the weekend, but Ocon had fairly positive words about it following the Grand Prix. "The track is okay," he said. "I think it makes [for] some good racing, but, if we change the tarmac, it could be a completely different story."
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