Esteban Ocon Recalls That Everyone Was Scared of Jos and Max Verstappen During the Karting Days

Max Verstappen developed a reputation for his aggressive style of driving over the last few years. This style has been inculcated in him by his father Jos Verstappen, who himself had an infamous reputation out on track. A lot of drivers today have seen the aggressive side of Max, including Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, who recalls how everyone was scared of the Dutchman, and his father.

During his conversation on the High-Performance podcast, Ocon remembered the fond memories of his karting days. The Frenchman revealed, “It was intense at times. Everyone was a bit afraid of Jos and Max at the time. Because Jos drove in Formula 1 and was known for how fierce and scary he could be.”

Ocon and Verstappen go way back, and the former admits to racing the 3-time world champion since 2010. Hence, he knows the ins and outs of competing with someone as fierce as him. Keeping that in mind, Ocon praises Verstappen. He feels that Verstappen was way too talented for someone his age during their karting days.

While wrapping up the conversation, the Alpine driver told a fascinating story about him and his father. The 27-year-old claimed that neither he nor his father had ever felt scared when racing the Verstappen duo, even though others were. They did this because they were determined to ‘race hard.’

Esteban Ocon opens up on his way to F1

In the same podcast, Ocon revealed how, despite winning the F3 championship, he was not given an F1 seat. Instead, Verstappen, who finished 3rd, got a shot. Ocon said, “I won the title and I didn’t go to Formula 1. That wasn’t fair. But they are things I have no say in.”

Because of this, Ocon was dejected. Considering the financial struggles his family was facing, was on the verge of giving up on his racing career. While revealing the instance, the 27-year-old said a he was working on the Lotus F1 program at the time, but they were out of money to carry on.

Later, Ocon revealed that he called Mercedes boss Toto Wolff to ask for a solution, and the Austrian took him in the team. He became a part of the academy and drove for their customer teams- Manor and Force India. However, when he moved to Alpine in 2020, his association with Mercedes ended.