BARCELONA, Spain -- Esteban Ocon called Renault's upgraded engine "really good" after noticing an immediate improvement compared to the former spec.
Ocon drove just six laps in the opening practice session of the Spanish Grand Prix but recorded a huge 105 on Tuesday at the first in-season test day of the year. It coincided with Renault running the upgraded B-spec engine it plans to officially introduce at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Asked for his initial feedback on the engine, Ocon said: "You would be surprised. It is really good, really good ... I can tell it will be quicker for sure."
Ocon finished bottom of the timing screens on Tuesday but that is of little relevance for Renault as was focused on testing the reliability of its new power unit. The Frenchman said he could notice an improvement in driveability, even though he only had a small amount of laps to compare to from last week.
"Yes, you can [notice it], a little. I only drove a little in FP1, but you can still ... yeah ...it is noticeable. For sure you do not push it 100 percent in the test. But overall the reliability was good. We did not have any problems. We did 105 laps today, so it is a real good debut and a really good start."
Ocon will have another day of testing in the class-leading Mercedes W06, as he is a development driver for the reigning world champions. The French driver was loaned out to the Enstone outfit for this weekend's test but he does not expect that to disadvantage Renault in any way.
"No I don't think there will be problems with that. You have to be professional."