“Daniel is living a very different life than I am,” Ocon chortles. “He is more LA, Miami and Monaco, and I am more ... simple cities”

“I wanted the team to see that I am hungry for a comeback, and it worked in the end. I’m here now, and that’s what is important.”

Despite coming out of F1 purgatory and finding himself a place on the grid, for Ocon navigating those off-track political skirmishes remains more of a challenge than piloting the fastest race cars on the planet.

“Politics is more difficult than any on-track battle, definitely,” he states emphatically, staring out across Albert Park’s lake. “It was a big part of my last year, trying to sort out my future.

“This is something that made it difficult in 2018. We had the best opportunities possible and we missed out on a misunderstanding. It wasn’t a nice year but I really made sure with all of my management that I was involved in all of the discussions. We managed to get our future sorted and that was very important.

“Only once that has all been put away can you focus on the proper stuff, and that’s racing, and that feels good.”

Ocon’s relationship with his teammates in the past can best be described as rocky. He’s either been wiping the floor with them, or butting heads as he did with Perez at Racing Point. The two tore up so much carbonfibre that the team had to hand down a stern edict which banned the duo from racing each other on-track.

It’s well within the realms of possibility for Ricciardo and Ocon to fall into the same destructive trap, with both having a serious point to prove in an F1 midfield that’s more competitive than ever.

“If you speak with Daniel…” Ocon catches himself, before starting the sentence again quickly with a small adjustment.

“If you speak about Daniel he is one of the nicest guys in the paddock, so there is no problem with him at all,” he states almost matter-of-factly. “We have a good relationship at the moment. He’s bringing a good energy to the team, and hopefully it will stay like that the whole year. He is one of the best, so it is a great chance for me to be teaming up with him, and I can’t wait to get started.”

So it’s all buddy-buddy for now, or until the green flag is waved. But we’ll have to wait until the second half of the year – at the very least – to discover how the pair’s relationship survives a truncated season of racing. F1 is on ice indefinitely and under a cloud of uncertainty as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads across the globe.

Until then, the Frenchman and the Australian are working together in an attempt to elevate Renault’s F1 team into a serious podium contender.

“We have weekly meetings. We are on the simulator quite a lot, and we have meetings on most of the performance and tech stuff at the factory,” Ocon explains. “We work very often together, and that’s why it is quite important that we get on with each other, just for us to be moving forward quicker than the others.”

Asking if they spend any time together outside of work prompts a laugh from Ocon, who doesn’t seem to gel with the Australian’s playboy lifestyle.

“He is living a very different life than I am,” he chortles. “Ricciardo is more LA, Miami and Monaco, and I am more ... simple cities.”

Those ‘simple cities’ include Ocon’s hometown, where his father still works as a mechanic.

“It is the same garage, but I helped them build a bit bigger one,” he says with a wide smile. “He has all the nice tools, everything he needs ... it looks like a racing shop, which is pretty cool.”

Our conversation by the Albert Park lake ends at this point, and it’s clear that Ocon is happiest talking about his family. His answers are honest and earnest, no longer shrouded with a layer of PR-speak.

No fans would sit in the grandstands at Albert Park that weekend, and Ocon would not be measured against Ricciardo on-track. He returned home to France, to continue his training surrounded by family, where he is happiest. And that’s a concern for Aussie F1 fans. A happy, focused Ocon could be Ricciardo’s toughest challenge yet, and if the F1 2020 season does begin, we have no doubt the two will be putting on one hell of a show.