Esteban Ocon on rivalry with Max Verstappen

Esteban Ocon and Max Verstappen started fighting in karting; in the High Performance podcast, the Alpine F1 driver recalled how their rivalry developed…

Esteban Ocon: “In karting everyone was a bit afraid of Jos and Max. Everyone knew that Jos had driven in Formula 1 before and had seen how fierce and intimidating he could be when talking to other children on the karting track.

But my father and I were never afraid. We just wanted to race. We fought hard and in some races we sometimes went overboard. As a result, I was not always able to reach the finish line, but this tough battle has taught me a lot. I hope he learned a lot then too.

Later we met in European Formula 3, where we also fought hard. I loved racing with Max. Heavy racing is always cool, side by side, in close competition – nothing else gets me as excited.

That year I won the title, but Max didn’t win and finished third, but suddenly he moved to Formula 1. It was difficult to deal with this. It wasn’t fair. I always believed that my time would come if I worked hard and got results, but at that moment I almost gave up racing.

Unfortunately, the programs I entered, Lotus F1 Junior and Gravity Sport, did not have the money to continue my career, and I went to work for my father as a mechanic.

I met Toto Wolff when I won with a Mercedes engine, and eventually together with Toto and Frederic Vasseur we found a solution that allowed me to continue competing in GP3, where I also won the title. That’s how I ended up in Mercedes’ youth program.

I’m glad that those who helped me also understood that it was unfair and found a solution so that I could move on.”