Renault F1 boss Cyril Abiteboul thinks signing up 23-year-old Esteban Ocon is the perfect move for his team which is making room for the current Mercedes reserve driver by ousting veteran Nico Hulkenberg.
Ocon’s 2020 Renault teammate will, therefore, be 30-year-old Daniel Ricciardo.
“Drivers have this ability to put tremendous pressure on a team, which is maybe something we have missed,” Abiteboul told Le Figaro. “Drivers in their thirties are a little rounder. I think Esteban will be much more angular and that’s what I expect from him.”
The Frenchman explained that it will be good if Ocon is very demanding with the team, including demanding Renault “re-does everything for him”.
“It’s not for Enstone but for the drivers to define the car that they need to deliver the results we expect. I think Esteban is more on this wavelength. Nico and Daniel are more gentlemanly, which is not to say that Esteban is not a gentleman. But they have an attitude to our factory which is perhaps a little too conformist.
“We need someone who pushes us very strongly with a very strong aggressiveness on and off the track. I felt that with Nico, who is extraordinary, there was this glass ceiling. We need to shatter this glass next year,” said Abiteboul.