Whatever happens at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon, a safe bet would be that the two Force India drivers, Esteban Ocon and Sergio Pérez, are going to be playing very nicely indeed should they find themselves wheel-to-wheel with one another after they twice clashed in Belgium. But Ocon has already done enough to separate himself from his team-mate by claiming third on the grid at Monza in the wet, providing confirmation of the young driver’s extraordinary promise.
In the wake of the spat when Ocon accused his team-mate of trying to “kill me” the pair have had to endure the sort of scrutiny usually reserved for championship contenders. For Ocon in particular, the experience will have been instructive.
Ocon is 20 years old and in his first full season in F1 but he has more than proved his potential, not least by competing so quickly against the more experienced Pérez. Their proximity on track, often in a race of their own as the fourth-fastest cars on the grid, has given the traditional team-mate rivalry a sharper edge.
There was discord over team orders in Canada, a collision in Baku and in Belgium the boiling point. Pérez squeezed Ocon on the run down the hill to Eau Rouge, they clashed, Pérez took a puncture and Ocon lost part of his front wing. An ill-tempered war of words ensued. Force India were furious and have instigated a strict code of conduct for their drivers.
Both were duly conciliatory under the spotlight in Monza, saying they had discussed events at Spa and agreed to fashion a new, less destructive relationship. “What is important is that we look ahead and get the result the team deserves,” Ocon says. “We have lost points, we have lost money, we have lost parts of the car, it is enough. I am a professional driver and we are professional, Sergio and I. In the end we are here because we are clever, I hope we will be intelligent enough to have respect and just move on.”
The Frenchman has scored points in every race bar one this season, at Monaco, where a puncture cost him eighth place. It has been a remarkable debut but Ocon has not arrived out of the blue. He won the GP3 title in 2015 and is also in the Mercedes driver development programme. Pascal Wehrlein, with whom he raced at Manor and who is now at Sauber, attracts attraction as the next young Mercedes driver to step up but on current form Ocon seems the more likely choice.
“It’s always important to prove your skill, to prove you deserve your seat in F1,” he says. “But I don’t feel the need or pressure to do it, I am happy to be where I am. I want to do the best I can with what I have. I am passionate about the sport. It is something I have dreamed about for years.”
Force India recognise they have taken on a formidable driver. “We knew he had the potential to do it,” says their chief executive, Otmar Szafnauer. “One of the reasons we chose him was because we saw it in him. He was quick, receptive to learning, fitted into the team well, has great racing experience as well as acumen. He has exceeded our expectations.”
They also acknowledge he has a racing wisdom beyond his years. “He is really good at decision-making and reading a race,” says Szafnauer. “Some drivers look to the pit wall to read a race but Esteban does that himself. He knows where he is, where his competitors are and what he needs to do.”
They are skills that may well be of import when the fallout with Pérez has been long forgotten. “My target is to be world champion,” Ocon says. “I am part of the Mercedes programme, but I don’t know what the future will bring so I am focused on the job I have to do here and the challenge we have ahead.”
