Esteban Ocon says he learned a lot from his time as Mercedes' reserve driver last year, but it’s racing for Renault that he's really interested in. The Frenchman has been at his new team's factory plenty over the winter and he says the staff there reckon the car is “probably the biggest step in three or four years”.

Renault returned to F1 as a works outfit in 2016 and improved year-on-year for three campaigns before taking a step backwards in 2019. For 2020, they've drafted in new Technical Director (Chassis) Pat Fry – instrumental at former team McLaren – and signed Ocon on a two-year deal to replace Nico Hulkenberg.

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Settling in to Renault has been seamless for Ocon, who was released early by Mercedes in order to gain crucial mileage at the end of season Abu Dhabi test with his new squad, for whom he was reserve driver in 2016.