Ocon 'played it safe' in battle for lead at Spa

Esteban Ocon said he "played it safe" during the four-car battle for the lead on the opening lap of the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday, but believed he could have taken the lead if he'd had one more metre before the corner turn-in.

Following the best result in Force India's F1 history that saw Ocon line up third on the grid ahead of teammate Sergio Perez, both drivers made good starts to get into the thick of the battle for the lead with Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel along the Kemmel Straight.

Ocon managed to point his Force India down the inside of Vettel's Ferrari approaching Les Combes, going side-by-side, but braked early and pulled out of a possible move for the lead, causing him to drop back to fourth.

Ocon spent the remainder of the day trailing Perez, eventually finishing the race in sixth place as Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen both managed to pass through the race.

"Maybe I was a bit over-confident there taking the lead, I don’t know. We’ll never know," Ocon said.

"I had a good run down though, good slipstream. I was lacking a metre probably. I will review what I could have done differently. But it was good and fair racing.

"I think we were not going to all fit there. I broke early just to be safe. Sergio had the perfect spot then."

The result came at the end of a tough weekend for Force India that saw the team lose all its constructors' points after re-entering the championship as a new entry, only to then immediately rise to P8 in the standings thanks to its Spa haul.

"Of course the start is just a new name we are having, the team is totally the same. We scored a lot of points today which is fantastic," Ocon said.

"I did bet we could finish eighth [in the constructors'], we are almost eighth at the moment. It’s great.

"For sure, missing all those 12 races and then arriving here with all those points is a great thing."

Teammate Perez, who finished fifth, added: "Definitely a great start, especially after all the trouble that we had in the last couple of months. So really a fresh start for the team.

"I want everyone involved in the team, in the past team, to feel very proud of what we have achieved today. I think there are great things coming for this team."