Ocon: Force India 'not far off Red Bull' on long-run pace

Esteban Ocon believes Force India is "not far off Red Bull" in terms of long-run pace heading into the new Formula 1 season after enjoying the team's most productive day of pre-season testing so far.

Ocon managed to rack up 130 laps behind the wheel of the Force India VJM11 in Wednesday's test session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, finishing 12th-fastest overall, 2.7 seconds behind pace-setter Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull RB14.

"We are really happy about today. That’s what we needed after the difficult conditions the other day and yesterday with not so much running," Ocon said.

"It’s what we needed - a clean day today. We did most of our programme and it will make us move forward in the future that day and we understood plenty so there’s plenty to analyse. We are quite happy with today."

Force India has acknowledged it faces a tall order to retain fourth place in the F1 constructors' championship where it has finished for the past two seasons given the strength of the better-funded Renault and McLaren teams, but Ocon is quietly confident about its pace.

"We will see where we are in Melbourne, that’s the most important thing," Ocon said.

"Today was a good day, plenty of mileage under our belt and long runs look promising - not far off Red Bull I think, so we are quite happy."

When told that Red Bull finished P1, Ocon said: "I know they were P1. You will see."

Pre-season testing continues in Barcelona on Thursday before concluding with Friday's session, when Ocon is slated to return to the VJM11 car for Foce India.