One driver celebrated their middling starting position at the Japanese Grand Prix as if they’d won the race, Ted Kravitz says.
It was a tight battle from 11th downwards at Suzuka, with every team able to get at least one driver into Q2.
And Sky Sports F1 presenter Kravitz says one driver in that pack was ecstatic with how they performed on Saturday.
RB’s Daniel Ricciardo was the closest to making the top 10 shoot-out, but teammate Yuki Tsunoda narrowly pipped him.
Nico Hulkenberg took 12th for Haas despite seeing a lap time deleted, while Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas was 13th.
Alex Albon continued his run of qualifying on either the sixth or seventh row at every race, although this time the Williams driver was at the lower end of that group in 14th.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was the slowest runner in Q2, which means he’ll start 15th, but in a potentially key upset, that puts him ahead of Aston Martin’s dejected Lance Stroll.
Pierre Gasly (17th) and Kevin Magnussen (18th) were too slow to make it out of the opening session, and Logan Sargeant qualified 19th after his crash in FP1.
For the second race running, Zhou Guanyu was the slowest driver in the field at Sauber.
Ted Kravitz says Esteban Ocon was delighted to escape Q1
Ocon seemed thrilled when his team informed him over the radio that he’d progressed from Q1.
Alpine have endured a miserable start to the season, with no points on the board after the first three races.
They were a comfortable midfield team last year, finishing sixth in the standings on 120 points.
But the French manufacturer currently rank rock bottom of this year’s table.
That has left Ocon, a Grand Prix winner, revelling in even small signs of progress.
“Ocon again treating getting out of Q1 like winning a race, very happy wasn’t he?” Kravitz said.
Ocon dominating Pierre Gasly in Alpine battle
Ocon says it’s the ‘worst feeling’ to deliver strong laps but not be able to compete for top-10 finishes.
However, one key consolation for the 27-year-old is that he’s currently out-performing teammate Gasly.
Gasly shaded one of the closest teammate battles on the F1 grid last year as he scored 62 points to Ocon’s 58.
But while neither driver is off the mark yet this year, the latter now leads their qualifying head-to-head 4-0.
That’s despite the fact that Gasly says he’s been driving his car like an ‘animal’ to try and extract the maximum performance.
BBC F1 pundit Alice Powell says the former Red Bull driver has been ‘struggling’ this weekend.
Ocon will hope that teams are taking notice of his commendable displays at the lower end of the grid.
He may be hoping for a return to Mercedes for next year as the team prepare to part company with Lewis Hamilton.
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