Ocon: Racing Point will close massive gap to big teams

Former Racing Point (Force India) driver Esteban Ocon believes the team will close the "massive gap" that Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull have over the rest of the grid.

Ocon was part of the Force India side in 2017 that secured a fourth placed finish as it demonstrated its status as one of the most resillient and least-funded status on the grid.

Force India remained one of the "best-of-the-rest" contenders in 2018, but financial troubles took the team into administration. They were eventually saved by Lawrence Stroll and his consortium and now they have been named Racing Point.

Despite losing his seat to Lawrence's son, Lance Stroll, Ocon is not bitter about the axe, and he believes his former side will make great strides in the future.

"It is a massive gap to fill but they will make a step forward, that's for sure," the French driver told Motorsport. "Resources have always been the issue, and there will be less of this issue next year. I believe they will be strong contenders."

Ocon thinks that Racing Point's work ethic and development prowess will be key if they are to challenge the top three.

"I was very impressed, as I was last year, just (by) the professionalism of this team and the motivation they have for results," Ocon added. "That's probably the biggest thing.

"They are hungry. That makes the difference. They don't count the hours. One example, they flew back from Mexico and arrived at like 2am in the UK and the following morning I was there, at 8am, plus the jet lag, and we were working on the sim.

"Everyone was destroyed, I was as well, but we were already working. That's why we're so competitive on-track, even when we don't have the resources. Probably with the resources it's going to be a lot easier for them."