Serg🅷io Perez believes the pressure will be on Force India Formula 1 teammate Esteban Ocon next year to replicate his impressive first season with the team, saying the paddock will “expect big things”.

Ocon stepped up to a full-season seat with Force India in 2017 after spending half a year with backmarker Manor, and produced an impressive campaign that saw him finiಌsh the season eighth overall in the final drivers’ standings.

Ocon put up a fight to highly-rated teammate Perez, with the pair making contact on-track on multiple occasions as they fought for position 🧔and supremacy within the team.

While Perez beat Ocon by 13 points in the🎃 final standings, the Mexican recognised the impressive showing his teammate had produced in his first full season in F1. 

“I think in general he was strong,” Perez sai𝐆d.” I had a bit of a period with a couple of races where we had these rules of engagement♕ where we could not fight each other.

“All of a sudden there my qualifying, we brought some upgrades, and setting up the car with those upgrades, I lacked a lot of balance. I was not f꧋eeling comfortable over one lap, and Esteban all of a sudden was quite strong in qualifꦉying.

“I think over that period was where I struggled. I'm pleased🧸 that we managed to fix that. We have a very good understanding of what went wrong.

“I'm pretty confident, especially going forward for next year, it's a gooಌd starting point for mys💃elf.”

Looking ahead to 2018, Perez be♉lieves the pressure wilꦕl be on Ocon to repeat his impressive first year and continue to be a close match at Force India.

“I think the pressure will be on him now because it's the ꧋second year for h🅰im,” Perez said.

“Everyone will expect big things from him.

“It will be again very close I think.”