Ocon happy with 'massive improvement' this season

Esteban Ocon has spoken of his content at the 'massive improvement' which he has made this season in Formula One, which was his first full campaign in the sport, and insisted it is his intention to become faster than his team-mate Sergio Perez in 2018.

Ocon made his F1 debut at the back end of last year with Manor, competing in four Grand Prix races. His first full campaign in 2017 has been impressive as he scored points in all but two of the races, finishing just one place and 13 points shy of Perez in the championship rankings.

He is happy with the quick improvement which has been made this campaign.

"It was a smooth transition but it's never easy to get the final details correct," Ocon said to Motorsport.com.

"You need to know the people, then understand the car together with the people and they need to understand my feedback properly.

"I also needed experience in knowing how the car will perform better with my driving style. It's the same work but it's just getting in the same rhythm and not letting any details through.

"It's a massive improvement we've done by correcting all the details. We are doing the same work, but better."

Ocon did his best work this year in the second half of the season, with good finishes in Japan, USA, and Mexico and he has attributed this to having already competed on the tracks last year with Manor.

"It [his form in the second half of the campaign] comes from the fact I had the experience with Manor last year from the tracks," he said.

"Coming on the second time on the tracks in F1 helps me. With all the knowledge I have from the season it's helped me make that big step."

The French driver would go on to praise the speed of his team-mate, Perez, but insisted he wanted to become the fastest competitor within Force India.

"My target is to be faster than him, I want to be in front of him but he is a very fast driver," he continued.

"Even if I've been in front in many of the races, it's very close between each other. I can't rest.

"I need to keep pushing because he's there all the time. I want to stay in front and at the moment, we're doing a strong job so we have to continue."