Verstappen went to F1, Ocon almost had to give up racing: 'Not fair'

Esteban Ocon talked to the High Performance Podcast about his path towards Formula 1. This also includes Max Verstappen, his biggest rival in karting and Formula 3. The Frenchman - competing for Alpine in the premier class of motorsport - discussed, among other things, the fact that he beat Verstappen in the F3 championship, but could not go to Formula 1 himself and Max could.

Ocon and Verstappen first met in 2011, in karting. "When we were with my dad, against him and his dad, everybody was a little bit scared of Jos and Max at the time. Because Jos was driving Formula 1 before," said the now 27-year-old driver. The Dutchmen were labelled a dangerous duo. Max was known to be talented and, of course, his father as an engineer was also very knowledgeable.

Three years later, Verstappen and Ocon met again, this time in Formula 3. The latter won the title, but it was Verstappen who impressed most. At least on Helmut Marko. The Red Bull Racing advisor did not hesitate for a moment and offered him an F1 seat at Toro Rosso. That was not in the cards for Ocon and he went on to drive in the GP3 championship, although his career would have been over.

'Not fair'

"It's things that were out of our control, let's say," Ocon stated. "And that's the moment where I was actually about to go work with my dad as a mechanic. The program I was in, which was called Lotus F1 Team Junior and Gravity Sport Management, had no money for me to continue. In this transition from 2014 to 2015, I was on the phone constantly calling Toto [Wolff], asking him if there were any solutions for me. Because I met him during that year, because I won with a Mercedes engine in Formula 3. And I was very pissed off in those times."

Ocon struggled. "That was very, very difficult because to me, it was not fair. Not saying that I would go to F1 because I always believed that my time would come. But in those moments, I wasn't sure that I was going to even continue racing. And for me, that wasn't fair.

Uncertainty all around

The road to Formula 1 was marked by uncertainties that made it difficult to always achieve the maximum. "I think the challenge, it comes from more…, not knowing and uncertain about the future always. That's what I've been growing with basically my whole life. And it's always been, that's it, I’m going to have to fight for that. And not being settled has been a strength of mine in being able to perform at a better level always. So I don't fear that."

"A lot of drivers would fear always these issues. And for sure, the teammate things and the fights with Max, we've never been able to be fighting on the same league, let's say, in Formula 1 because Max had a winning car and I had a midfield car. So you always want to beat everyone that you race against. You need to work well with your teammates, for the team to be able to get the car to a better place. But on track, you need to finish in front of anyone that you can. It doesn't matter if it's your teammates or someone else that you are fighting with. You need to finish in front", Ocon said.

Many drivers would always fear this kind of problem. And certainly, the teammate stuff and the battles with Max, we've never been able to fight in the same league. Not in Formula 1 because Max had a winning car and I had a car that was only good for midfield. So you always want to beat everyone you race against. You have to work well with your teammates so the team can take the car to a better place. But on the track, you have to finish ahead of everyone else. It doesn't matter if it's your teammates or anyone else you are fighting with. You have to finish first," Ocon concluded.