Esteban Ocon admits he ‘shouldn’t have done’ moves during Sergio Perez rivalry

Almost a decade on from their infamous 2017 teammate rivalry, Esteban Ocon admits he made “mistakes” in his battles with Sergio Perez as he tried to prove himself against his more experienced teammate.

Ocon joined Force India in 2017, with the championship marking his first full season on the grid having been a mid-season replacement at Manor the year before, but unable to score a point in his nine races with the backmarker team.

Esteban Ocon admits to some blame in Sergio Perez battles

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Racing alongside Perez, who was in his seventh season in the sport, Ocon and the Mexican driver elevated Force India to fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, the team on the scorecard in every race bar Monaco.

However, there were a few events where only one car scored points, two of those incidents being the result of Ocon or Perez taking the other out.

The duo had four notable clashes during their first season together, two of which – Azerbaijan and Belgium – resulted in retirements for Perez.

But while in Baku the blame lay with Ocon, who squeezed him into the wall, in Spa it was Perez who put on the squeeze only to come off second best.

Neither driver was willing to hold up his hand in those moments as they traded barbs and accusations of unprofessionalism.

Almost a decade on, and in hindsight, Ocon conceded in F1’s Off The Grid that there were moments when he was in the wrong – but he wasn’t always.

“Yeah, it was a lot of pressure,” Ocon said of his 2017 rivalry with Perez. “I was racing against someone very experienced, you know, Checo. He was a consistent scorer in the midfield – probably the most consistent.

“I started clearly on the back foot in the first race [of 2017]. But then I managed to catch up well after that. And then we were racing very closely.

“And there were moments where I did mistakes, there were moments where I don’t feel it was necessarily my fault.

“I was very young. I was inexperienced. I wanted to push hard and show people what I was capable of.

“At the time, we were just racing hard and trying to race as the best we can, and that’s also why we got so many points that year because we were racing very well together.

“There are things that I would have liked to change. Like Spa, for example. These kinds of moments, it shouldn’t have happened. It cost the team points.

“You know, I’ve made mistakes over my career, and things that I shouldn’t have done in racing but that’s how you learn from it. We all make mistakes, but it’s how you overcome those.

“That’s the way I saw racing back then. The track was what matters the most.

“Still, I believe that the track is what matters the most, but things could have happened in a different way.

“And with how much respect I had for Checo at the time, and I still have now, I would have preferred things to go in a different way.

“We finished with a very good championship finish position for the team, with fourth place, a top 10 finish in my first full season. So, yeah, it was very solid for sure.”

Ocon and Perez could reignite their rivalry this season as Perez returns to the grid with Cadillac in an all-new technical era for Formula 1 that could see a changing of the guard. Perhaps even a Haas v Cadillac battle, at least to see which American team comes out on top.

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From Canada to Belgium, the four telling Ocon v Perez incidents

The duo had four notable clashes during their first season together, with the more minor coming in Canada, where Perez cost Ocon a position to Sebastian Vettel with the Frenchman declaring his teammate’s antics could have “left us both out”, and Hungary where they banged wheels on the opening lap.

Azerbaijan and Belgium had more serious consequences.

In Azerbaijan, Ocon squeezed Perez towards the wall at Turn 2, putting the Mexican driver out of the grand prix with a broken front suspension while Ocon dropped to the back of the field due to a puncture. He recovered to finish P6.

Perez labelled his antics “over aggressive”, adding: “What happened today is totally unacceptable for the team. I think the way he raced today wasn’t right. I think he didn’t have any logic.”

Four races later in Spa, it was Ocon who received the squeeze. Racing for position, Perez squeezed his teammate with minor contact between the two that also had the Frenchman touching the wall. Both cars survived, only for Perez to pull a similar move later in the race.

He came off second best as while Ocon lost his front wing, Perez lost a wheel. Ocon finished in ninth place with Perez, who eventually retired the car, classified P17.

Ocon was furious, “He was risking our lives. He risked my life. He is supposed to be a professional driver but he is not acting like it.”

Perez pointed the finger at Ocon, declaring: “Tension started when he put me in the wall (in Azerbaijan).”

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