Ocon eyes future battle with Verstappen

Mercedes junior Esteban Ocon has talked up a potential title fight in the future with Red Bull prodigy Max Verstappen. Ocon impressed in his first full F1 campaign with Force India last year and has been linked with a future race seat at the Silver Arrows.

Ocon finished 19 of the 20 races in 2017, suffering a first retirement in Brazil, and only failed to score points in Monaco.

The Frenchman finished eighth in the drivers' standings, 13 points adrift of Sergio Perez after numerous battles with his team-mate.

With Valtteri Bottas only handed a one-year deal by the Silver Arrows, Ocon has been linked with a promotion, having previously raced for Mercedes' DTM team after signing to their junior program.

He won the 2014 European Formula 3 title, with Verstappen in third, and after some friction between them in the past, Ocon believes they could bring fireworks to F1, if he is given a top drive.

"Yeah, if there is a championship at the end of that fight I'd sign straight away, there's no problem there," Ocon told Motorsport.

"Charles [Leclerc], Max, those drivers are very, very strong. I've been racing with them since the very beginning.

"I know how good they are and I'm sure we'll meet in the future again."

On Verstappen, Ocon said: "It goes back as long as 2010, 2011.

"[We were] not friends at all. It was a very intense fight. It came out a bit too much at some point. Now we have no problem at all, we speak well together and he is a cool guy. Back in the day it was very intense."

Verstappen was fast-tracked to F1, becoming the series' youngest race entrant and winner, while Ocon continued to impress in junior formula.

"For sure it was hard to swallow," Ocon said. "I saw myself winning the [F3] title, with one weekend to spare, and he went to Formula 1.

"That was quite hard. But I knew with the right people I had around me, the work I was putting in, that if I was winning the titles my time was going to come.

"I'm learning all the time. The more cars you can drive, the better you are when the title comes to you."