Force India racer Esteban Ocon has admitted he is “a little disappointed” not to finish on the podium at Monza, but said the target was unrealistic on race day, with sixth being "the maximum".
Having starred in the wet qualifying session on Saturday, Ocon lined up third on the grid for Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix and stormed into second at the start.
However, as the faster Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull cars moved through the field and up the order, Ocon was unable to keep them behind him.
The Frenchman gradually slipped to sixth, having to hold off Lance Stroll, Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez in the closing laps to secure the position.
He was hoping for a possible podium chance on Sunday but admitted that, realistically, sixth is a very strong result.
“I really enjoyed the race and I’m happy with our performance,” Ocon said. “At the same time, I’m a little disappointed because I really wanted to finish on the podium.
“But you have to be realistic and we didn’t have the pace to match Mercedes and Ferrari, so I think sixth place was the maximum we could achieve.
“At one stage, we were racing against [Kimi] Raikkonen and I thought we could keep him behind, but he was just too quick.
“I also had a good battle with [Lance] Stroll for most of the race and I had to work hard to keep him behind me.
“With the strong qualifying yesterday and the sixth place, it’s been a great weekend. I have to say a big thanks to the whole team for all their hard work and for giving me such a competitive car.”
