Esteban Ocon has candidly reflected on one of the most intense intra-team rivalries of recent Formula 1 history, admitting that youth, pressure, and inexperience played a major role in his repeated clashes with Sergio Perez during their time together at Force India.
The Frenchman, now an established race winner, was just 20 years old when he entered his first full F1 season in 2017 after a short nine-race stint with Manor. Partnered with Perez — already a proven midfield benchmark — Ocon found himself under immediate pressure to perform.
A Rookie Thrown Into the Deep End
Speaking in F1’s Off The Grid video series, Ocon acknowledged just how challenging the situation was.
“It was a lot of pressure,” Ocon explained.
“I was racing against someone very experienced. Checo was probably the most consistent midfield driver at the time.”
Force India’s VJM10 was the fourth-fastest car on the grid in 2017, regularly capable of fighting inside the top six. That competitiveness raised the stakes — and magnified every mistake.
Collisions That Cost Big Points
The rivalry quickly turned combustible. At the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Ocon squeezed Perez into the wall while both cars were running in the top five. Later that season at Spa-Francorchamps, Perez twice forced Ocon toward the wall on the run from La Source to Eau Rouge — moments that shocked the paddock.
An angry Ocon vented afterward, saying:
“I don’t know if he wants to die or something. We risk our lives for nothing.”
The drama continued into 2018, peaking at the Singapore Grand Prix, where contact between the pair sent Ocon into the wall on lap one — with the team blaming Perez.
“I Was Very Young”
With hindsight, Ocon accepts his role in escalating the situation.
“I was very young. I was inexperienced. I wanted to push hard and show people what I was capable of,” he admitted.
“There were moments where I made mistakes. There were moments where I don’t feel it was necessarily my fault.”
Ocon highlighted Spa as a particular regret, acknowledging that the incident cost the team valuable points during a season where Force India could not afford mistakes.
“These kinds of moments shouldn’t have happened. It cost the team points.”
Respect Beneath the Rivalry
Despite the clashes, Ocon stressed that the rivalry wasn’t driven by personal animosity.
“We were racing hard and trying to race the best we could,” he said.
“That’s also why we scored so many points that year — because we were racing very well together.”
He added that he has always respected Perez and would have preferred a different outcome with the benefit of experience.
“With how much respect I had for Checo — and still have — I would have preferred things to go in a different way.”
Team Orders and Financial Reality
The tension grew so severe that Force India briefly imposed team orders, despite sitting comfortably fourth in the constructors’ championship. At the time, the team was operating under significant financial strain, making crashes particularly damaging.
Force India ultimately finished fourth in the 2017 constructors’ standings, a remarkable result for a midfield outfit — but one achieved despite, not because of, its volatile driver pairing.
That financial instability would later lead to the team’s sale to a Lawrence Stroll-led consortium, with the outfit eventually rebranding as Aston Martin.
Lessons Learned
Looking back, Ocon views the rivalry as a necessary — if painful — learning experience.
“I’ve made mistakes over my career,” he said.
“But that’s how you learn. It’s how you overcome those.”
Now a more measured and experienced competitor, Ocon’s reflections underline how raw talent, when combined with pressure and ambition, can easily tip into costly conflict — especially when two drivers refuse to yield.
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