He debuted with a backmarker staff earlier than shifting as much as an even bigger one, the place he partnered with a longtime driver – a staff chief for a number of years. Issues did not go easily. Apart from a number of disagreements over technique that led to heated radio exchanges, there have been additionally a few crashes. Nothing too sudden when a younger, bold driver joins a staff to not play a supporting function however to show himself.
Have you ever guessed the driving force’s title but? One final clue: he speaks French.
His title, after all, is Charles Leclerc. Or did you’ve gotten another person in thoughts?
In the future earlier than his second Formulation 1 victory – within the 2019 Italian Grand Prix – Leclerc severely irritated not solely Sebastian Vettel but additionally his boss Mattia Binotto by refusing to supply a slipstream for his team-mate within the last moments of qualifying. The German then broke staff agreements in Sochi by refusing to cede the place he had gained at first because of Leclerc’s tow. Later that 12 months, they crashed in Sao Paulo, with each sharing the blame, and some months later, the Monegasque collided together with his team-mate on the opening lap of the second Crimson Bull Ring race, inflicting each Ferraris to retire from the race.
Crew-mates in Formulation 1 should not crash into one another. Ideally, they need to at all times put the staff’s pursuits forward of their very own. However typically they do crash. And so they usually disobey, or at the least query, staff orders. This description of a “younger and impressive” driver might additionally apply to Max Verstappen. His defensive drive in opposition to Daniel Ricciardo within the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix was maybe over the road. The well-known crash that adopted was already their second, as Verstappen had additionally ended his team-mate’s race at Hungaroring in 2017 – destroying Ricciardo’s automotive in a very aggressive transfer on the primary lap. And bear in mind Max’s notorious “No!” in response to a staff order to let Carlos Sainz by way of in Singapore throughout his debut season?
Max Verstappen, Crimson Bull Racing RB14 and Daniel Ricciardo, Crimson Bull Racing RB14 crash
Photograph by: Sutton Photographs
Neither Leclerc nor Verstappen have the status of being unhealthy team-mates. Charles might be too handsome to be seen as a villain, and Max… properly, he simply wins every little thing, would not he? All joking apart, they do not have such a status in all probability as a result of they’re simply seen as extremely aggressive people – and it is solely pure for such drivers to typically put their very own curiosity forward of the staff’s.
For Esteban Ocon, nonetheless, the picture of somebody “continuously crashing into his team-mates” has turn into a defining a part of his picture – particularly in case you ask round on social media.
You’d have to return to his time with Sergio Perez at Power India to search out the roots of this notion – and so they did have their justifiable share of run-ins.
“I do not know precisely why,” shrugs Ocon when requested about his status as we communicate in Bahrain throughout his first pre-season take a look at with Haas. “I believe issues have in all probability been blown out of proportion at occasions. Yeah, there’s been some incidents, for certain, and issues that I might have appreciated, … to have gone in another way at occasions.
“However once I look again, I’ve tried my finest to work properly with the staff and my team-mate, and I believe each time we have achieved the objectives along with what the automotive might have achieved – whether or not it is Sergio, Daniel [Ricciardo], Fernando [Alonso] or Pierre [Gasly]. I’ve labored properly with all of them, to be honest. Sure, there have been incidents that I might have appreciated to have been completely different, for certain. However over time, it has been little or no.”
However was it actually “little or no”?
Sergio Perez, Power India VJM10, Esteban Ocon, Power India VJM10
Photograph by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Photographs
Throughout their two seasons collectively, Pérez and Ocon had 5 separate incidents on observe – although Ocon is eager to level out that these by no means affected Power India’s championship place. Given the pecking order of the period, he and his team-mate usually discovered themselves racing in opposition to one another, with the staff properly behind the highest three, however principally forward of the midfield.
“They have been 5?” Ocon laughs when requested about these incidents.
“I do bear in mind all of them, for certain,” he provides. “I’ve at all times tried to do my finest within the automotive, I’ve at all times tried to get the utmost out of every little thing I had in my fingers. It is by no means a superb factor to have contact together with your team-mate, and that is not one thing I ever need.
“However yeah, it occurred a few occasions as a result of we have been racing very shut, and a bit of bit on our personal – as a result of that first 12 months in 2017, we have been between sixth and eighth more often than not, and that was us [always] on the identical row of the grid.
“Now… yeah, I’ve mentioned issues within the press that, being younger and hungry, I in all probability would not have mentioned now. And I’ve full respect for Checo, and it has been a pleasure, actually, to be his team-mate.”
Ocon is way more cautious with the media nowadays. What he might have mentioned, although, is that folks appear to overlook that of these 5 clashes, basically just one was largely his fault – the one in Baku in 2017, the place he pushed Perez into the wall popping out of Flip 3 on the primary lap.
Later that 12 months in Hungary, the Mexican punted Ocon’s automotive into Flip 1, and some weeks later, he twice squeezed his team-mate into the surface wall on the run to Eau Rouge. It was after that race that Ocon lashed out within the TV pen: “That is how unprofessional he’s. He is by no means accomplished that with every other team-mate, and yeah, I believe I am going to go man to man to see him and, , inform him the reality – and I am not going to be fearful of him.”
Esteban Ocon, Racing Level Power India F1 Crew
Photograph by: Jerry Andre / Motorsport Photographs
He later posted the notorious tweet accusing Checo of attempting to “kill” him twice.
A 12 months later in Singapore, they might contact once more after the Frenchman tried to overhaul Pérez on the opening lap, solely to be pushed off the observe. “And it is Ocon once more, who’s squeezed into the wall by his team-mate,” commented David Croft stay on Sky Sports activities because the Frenchman parked his three-wheeled automotive on the facet of the observe. However whereas 4 out of 5 of their incidents have been principally because of Pérez being overprotective, it’s Ocon who has been left with the “unhealthy team-mate” moniker.
It in all probability caught a lot later, although – maybe through the time Ocon shared a storage with Fernando Alonso at Alpine. In addition they had their justifiable share of on-track motion. Keep in mind the Spaniard’s radio message after the primary lap in Hungary in 2022?
“By no means in my life have I seen a protection like Esteban’s at the moment. By no means.”
But in two years, they solely touched as soon as, within the dash race in Brazil. Whereas attempting to overhaul Ocon on the principle straight, Alonso broken his entrance wing. “Because of our pal,” he introduced on the radio. And as their relationship got here to an finish after two years, Fernando famous in one in all his interviews that he was “at all times combating in opposition to one automotive all 12 months”, suggesting that he wasn’t at all times proud of the way in which Ocon raced in opposition to him.
And whereas there’s in all probability some fact to that, it is also argued that the two-time world champion has by no means been shy about pushing his personal narrative by way of the media. In spite of everything, the team-mate he in all probability praised essentially the most throughout his profession was Stoffel Vandoorne, as virtually each time he beat the Belgian in qualifying, he cited the complete checklist of titles his youthful colleague had received throughout his junior profession. Now, in response to Alonso, Lance Stroll is a future world champion, too.
Fernando Alonso, Alpine, Esteban Ocon, Alpine
Photograph by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Photographs
“We had a number of battles for certain,” says Ocon of Alonso. “However yeah, out of two years we touched as soon as, I believe, and it did not have any consequence as a result of we had the race of our lives the following day. We began final [the next day] and I believe Fernando completed fifth and I completed [eighth] in Brazil.
“However I like Fernando rather a lot. He is at all times been one of many drivers that I’ve revered essentially the most for what he is accomplished and for his driving abilities and his means on the observe.
“For me, he is the driving force who thinks essentially the most outdoors the field. And I speak to him rather a lot! You already know, even now, on the [F1 75] launch, we have been speaking about go-karting. As a result of we stay and breathe racing and that is a quite common level that we’ve collectively. It has been an honor to work with such a champion – and a two-time world champion.”
However Ocon would not need to get right into a confrontation, which is comprehensible given the sensitivity of the topic. Particularly now, after two years sharing the Alpine storage with Pierre Gasly – and the now-legendary Monaco crash, which left Ocon dealing with a wave of criticism on social media.
“With Pierre, it is a very lengthy story,” he smiles. “I believe solely we will perceive the place we come from and our relationship. However even Pierre himself mentioned that we have saved the staff collectively in troublesome moments. And, , fortunately we have been there to save lots of the ship typically. It has been good to have moments like Brazil. Despite the fact that we’ve our historical past, that second will at all times be one thing that we each bear in mind as tremendous constructive.
“From the place we come from, I do not suppose anybody would have believed that we might be in the identical staff and on the rostrum in F1. It has been nice to expertise that collectively.
Esteban Ocon, Alpine, Pierre Gasly, Alpine
Photograph by: Lubomir Asenov / Motorsport Photographs
Given their animosity, it was virtually as if the entire world was ready for them to crash into one another. The restart crash on the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, whereas one of many central moments in Drive to Survive, did not actually add a lot to the dialogue of their relationship – it was clear that the 2 Alpine drivers simply occurred to search out one another within the chaos of the late restart. However whereas that was written off as roughly a “racing incident”, the first-lap crash in Monaco final 12 months – this time clearly Ocon’s fault – was met with an outpouring of criticism in direction of the driving force with a ‘historical past of crashing into his team-mates’.
“Despite the fact that Monaco occurred, it did not value the staff something,” he says now. “I raised my hand. I might have appreciated issues to have gone in another way, for certain. However, yeah, we have accomplished our greatest each single time. And I believe, yeah, we received the utmost out of the automotive, , all through these two seasons.”
And whereas he will not elaborate a lot, he admits that it has been irritating to see a lot criticism on-line, particularly since not many have tried to actually look into the so-called ‘historical past of crashing into his team-mates’.
“As quickly as there is a headline, individuals like to leap on it,” he says. “However yeah, what can I say? I believe, from my perspective, we did what we would have liked to do [with each team] and took the alternatives once they got here. And we labored properly collectively – with Pierre, with Fernando, with Daniel. We additionally labored properly with Checo. We ticked the bins, ultimately. In order that’s crucial factor. And I am not a man who’s right here to crash into my team-mate. That is bullshit.”
Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Crew
Photograph by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Photographs
“It’s what individuals have a look at. And when all people is, , laughing a couple of matter, individuals prefer to observe and leap on the identical factor. However , with time, hopefully issues might be forgotten.”
Ocon is the primary to confess that he loves racing laborious. In spite of everything, like each different driver in F1, he is a extremely aggressive particular person. Had he been fortunate sufficient to get a successful automotive, this tendency to combat laborious with everybody – together with his team-mates – might have been seen as a mark of a future champion. To some extent he was seen that approach throughout his Power India days. However the subsequent step up by no means got here.
On some events, he in all probability wanted to be a bit extra cautious when it got here to racing a automotive of the identical shade – however on the identical time, he would not be mistaken to level out that he is by no means had a simple team-mate throughout his time in F1. And with at the least a few of them having considerably bigger social media followings, he has in all probability supplied a few of these followers with causes to not like him an excessive amount of.
Both approach, given the picture – justified or not – that has caught to him, Ocon in all probability is aware of he cannot afford to present individuals any extra causes so as to add to that narrative. In his new chapter with Haas, for the primary time in his profession, he would be the clearly extra skilled driver. Now, it is the man on the opposite facet of the storage who is available in with youth and an eagerness to show himself.
Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Crew, Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Crew
Photograph by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Photographs
“Nicely, I do not actually give attention to that,” he says when requested whether or not he feels extra duty at Haas now. “Positive, the staff depends on me for my expertise. And what I take into consideration issues typically is essential – for me to present all of the suggestions very early, and for us to see what we have to enhance and the weaknesses of the automotive and the strengths of the automotive. And the staff was very receptive.
“However, , Ollie [Bearman] has extra expertise contained in the staff than I do! Clearly, I’ve received the years of racing expertise, however he is are available as essentially the most ready rookie you could be. And that is superb, as a result of I am certain we’ll push the staff ahead in a short time as soon as we get to the primary race, and that is going to be essential to get the utmost out of everybody.”
One factor is for certain: no matter his picture, Ocon has been employed by Haas to work for the staff. His new boss and long-time pal Ayao Komatsu has praised how Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen managed to work collectively throughout their two-year stint with the staff, regardless of their very own historical past. And that is precisely what he expects from Ocon and Bearman.
For the Frenchman particularly, there might hardly be a greater alternative to show himself and dispel the status that has dogged him for thus lengthy.
On this article
Oleg Karpov
Formulation 1
Esteban Ocon
Haas F1 Crew
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