Force India believe that Formula One driver Esteban Ocon is better than fellow driver Max Verstappen. Is this accurate or not?
Force India chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer recently made clear that he believes Esteban Ocon, the 21-year-old who drives for the Formula One team, is every bit as good as 20-year-old Max Verstappen, who also drives in Formula One but does so for Red Bull Racing.
Ocon began his Formula One career in the 2016 season after test driving for Lotus in 2014 and Renault in 2016. He raced in the final nine races of the 2016 season with Manor Racing MRT. His full-time Formula One career began this past season with Force India, where he ended up finishing as the top rookie in the standings after an impressive year.
Ocon finished in 8th place in the drivers standings after finishing 19 of the 20 races and finishing 18 of the 19 races he finished in the top 10. His lone retirement in the penultimate race of the season, the Brazilian Grand Prix, ended a record 27-race streak without retiring to start a Formula One career. His best finishes were 5th place efforts in the Spanish Grand Prix and the Mexican Grand Prix.
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Verstappen began his Formula One career in the 2015 season after test driving for Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2014. He drove a full season in 2015 for Scuderia Toro Rosso and ended up as the top rookie in the drivers standings in 12th place.
In 2016, Verstappen started the season driving for Scuderia Toro Rosso. However, after four races, he began driving for Red Bull Racing and won his first race with the team, the Spanish Grand Prix. He ended up finishing in 5th place in the drivers standings. This past season, Verstappen secured two more victories en route to a 6th place finish in the drivers standings.
Here is what Szafnauer had to say on Ocon being as good as Verstappen, according to ESPN.
"“It’s hard to know because they are driving different cars. But Max has signed a big contract with Red Bull and we’ve probably got Ocon for a hundredth of the price. I think Esteban is every bit as good. The first time we ran Esteban in the car we knew he was something special.“He understands the car really well. He’s got great car control and because of it he can get to the limit very quickly and then he describes what he feels. He also knows what he wants from the car, which is very mature for his age.”"
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It is likely that Max Verstappen will have a better season than Esteban Ocon in 2018 given the fact that he drives for Red Bull Racing and Ocon drives for Force India. But how would these drivers compare to one another in equal equipment? Will we ever get the chance to see that one day? It could be a close battle if we do.