Esteban Ocon believes he is in the top three most talented drivers on the F1 grid with only Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen standing alongside him. The Alpine star is one of the contenders to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes when the seven-time world champion departs for Ferrari next season.
Speaking to the High Performance podcast about the best drivers on the grid, Ocon said: “Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen.” Prompted for his reasoning, he added: “I’ve raced with them since what… Charles since 2005, Max [since] 2010. It doesn’t matter what conditions, we were always neck and neck or in the top three. Always.”
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Mercedes option to replace Lewis Hamilton believes he is ‘top three most talented’ in F1
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By HARRY SMITH
06:01, Tue, Mar 19, 2024
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Esteban Ocon believes he is among the top three drivers on the F1 grid (Image: Getty)
Esteban Ocon believes he is in the top three most talented drivers on the F1 grid with only Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen standing alongside him. The Alpine star is one of the contenders to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes when the seven-time world champion departs for Ferrari next season.
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Speaking to the High Performance podcast about the best drivers on the grid, Ocon said: “Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen.” Prompted for his reasoning, he added: “I’ve raced with them since what… Charles since 2005, Max [since] 2010. It doesn’t matter what conditions, we were always neck and neck or in the top three. Always.”
Whereas Leclerc and Verstappen have been afforded extensive opportunities in race-winning machinery, Ocon has been forced to battle through the midfield in order to carve out his F1 legacy. Now in his eighth season as a full-time driver, the Frenchman is still waiting for his shot at a top team.
This isn’t to say that Ocon hasn’t shown top-level potential during his career thus far. After impressing with the struggling Manor Racing team in the second half of 2016, he was moved to Force India for his full rookie season, where he enjoyed one of the strongest debut years in modern F1 history
