"Everyone thinks they can compete": Fans react to Esteban Ocon's claim that he would fight Max Verstappen for the title if he had the same car

Esteban Ocon recently claimed that he had the ability to get involved in a title battle with Max Verstappen if he had an equally strong car.

In an interview with DAZN, Ocon stated that he is skilled enough to win a championship and take the fight to any F1 driver. Fans online disagreed with the French driver, letting their thoughts known via social media.

Ocon stated in the interview that his goal has always been to become the world champion.

"Sure. I see myself fighting with Verstappen fighting for a World Cup if we had the same car. Now Max is doing an incredible job, he is dominating with Red Bull. But I don't care who the driver was. I want to fight for the championship. I've always believed in myself. We have a long road ahead of us, but my goal is to be world champion, nothing more," he said.

Several fans reacted to the news on Twitter. One fan stated that as much as every driver would like to think that they can compete for a title, the task is harder than it looks.

"Everyone thinks they can compete for a title but few actually can," the tweet read.

Another fan questioned why the Frenchman's aspirations were not realistic, simply because the top drivers are too strong to beat.

"I do believe some drivers can compete and even win a championship against Max, but Ocon is not one of those drivers that I think would be able to beat him. The only drivers who I can see beating Max would be Lando, George, Lewis, Fernando, and Charles," the fan tweeted.

Here are some more fan reactions:

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Alpine explains the loose rear wing on Esteban Ocon's car in the 2023 F1 Canadian GP

Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer stated that the team knew about the loose rear wing in Esteban Ocon's car during the Canadian GP.

Szafnauer explained that the wing was tested and researched upon to understand why it was moving in the first place. He said that Alpine was confident that the wing would not detatch from the car during the race. As per Motorsport-Total, the Alpine team boss said:

"The wing held. We designed and built this wing, so we knew what was going on. And we were glad it wouldn't come loose. We test this in research and development. We put it through these tests simply because of the way it's mounted and we're therefore seeing these types of modes and understanding whether or not it's going to come loose."

He added:

"The FIA came up to us and said it looks like your rear wing is moving and we looked at that and talked about it. We were confident that it would be okay with a few laps to go."

During the race, Lando Norris, who was chasing the Alpine, came on the radio and complained about how dangerous it could be if Ocon's rear wing came off and hit him or the other drivers. Thankfully, the Alpine rear wing held its own and did not come off the car during the entireity of the race.