Exclusive: Verstappen successes hurts Ocon: 'My time will come'

One Grand Prix victory against 53 for Max Verstappen. This is thereality for Esteban Ocon in Formula 1. The Frenchman has shownshades of brilliance at the wheel of the Alpine, namely his win atHungary and podium at Monaco, but he's yet to break out of his spotin the midfield. Ocon's rise to F1 was matched by Verstappen andCharles Leclerc, who both competed with him from karts through toFormula 3. His rivalry with the Dutchman stretches back to theseearly days on track, making their collision in Brazil in 2019 allthe more controversial. Ocon became champion in Formula 3 whileVerstappen was starting off his career in single seaters, but theFrenchman indicated in an exclusive interview with RacingNews365that he would like to compete more with his former rivals. "It is apain, for sure" Ocon says. "But I'm working still as if we aregoing for wins and podiums after every weekend. You have tore-adjust your target and my target is to get the best out of thecar every race weekend. "I believe if I work hard and do well onthe track then my time will come. One day I will have a car that Ican compete in for championships and wins. I'm looking forward tothat." Ocon would love to drive the 24 Hours of Le Mans Ocon hailsfrom the Évreux commune located in the region of Normandy inFrance. After entering go-kart championships in 2006, he won theCadet class in 2008 ahead of the late Anthoine Hubert and teammatePierre Gasly. From there he competed in the WSK Euro Series in2011, where he finished runner up to a certain three-time F1 WorldChampion: "I've been growing up with these guys who are leading allthe time; Charles and Max. I know what I'm capable of. "I neveractually thought we would all make it to Formula 1 and that'sprobably why we succeeded, because if you start to see yourself upthere it's not a good thing. Maybe it has played a part that wewere all together and pushed each other in the go-karts. We'vebuilt a super strong generation and it's good to see we are all uphere." You would think that with 22 races on the calendar driverswould want to get away from racing when relaxing? Ocon still findssome time to watch other categories. "Yeah. I have some goodfriends and one of them won the Porsche Supercup in France. I'vefriends in the GT [classes] as well," explains Ocon. "When I lookat all the categories, how many drivers are professionals and havehad successes? It's crazy and I've raced against them in go-karts.It was a very strong field of generation and I'm proud to have beenpart of it." Both Leclerc and Verstappen have voiced their desireto compete in the 24 hours of Le Mans, with Nico Hulkenberg winningit in 2015 with Porsche and Fernando Alonso taking victory withToyota in 2018 and 2019. With Alpine following a number ofmanufacturers in competing in the newly formed Hypercar class inthe World Endurance Championship, we ever see Ocon compete othercategories such as the famous 24 hour race? "One day. Never saynever, but right now I'm obviously fully focused on Formula 1. Itis clear that Le Mans is a phenomenal race and it would be cool ifthey could schedule it between F1 races," he explains. "If one F1driver makes the switch, many will follow. It's something for thefuture now."