Esteban Ocon claims to be 'physically stronger' than all other F1 drivers - except 1!

Alpine driver Esteban Ocon claims to be physically stronger than all drivers on the grid besides Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas. The Frenchman is one of the tallest drivers on the grid, standing tall at a height of 1.86 meters.

Despite his height, Ocon is petitely built and is perhaps not one of the heavier drivers on the grid. The Frenchman claims that drivers need to be strong to properly handle F1 cars and that he is perhaps the strongest driver on the grid, barring Valtteri Bottas, who is an Ironman athlete. Esteban Ocon also claims that his height and lanky posture hide his true physical strength.

Speaking to RacingNews365.com, Esteban Ocon said:

"You need to be confident in yourself, and I believe I can be stronger than most people physically, apart from maybe Valtteri [Bottas], who is an Ironman athlete! But I have all the strength, and I do put in a lot of effort. When I'm wearing a T-shirt, because I'm quite tall, you don't see that I'm quite fit."

Ocon added about his level of fitness this year compared to 2021:

"I'm heavier than I was last year, so I kept more muscle mass, and I feel better with energy than I was last year."

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Esteban Ocon's height created cooling problems in his Alpine

The Frenchman is considerably taller than his now-former teammate Fernando Alonso (1.71 meters) - leading to cooling issues for Ocon. The Frenchman revealed that the team had to make a number of crucial modifications to their seating position in order to stop his car from overheating in warmer climates.

Esteban Ocon explained:

"We've worked hard with the team on my seating position. Last year, it has been a bit problematic at times in hot races, because I was quite high on a lot of different aero [discussion] topics, but this year, it's not the case. We really did a good job."

The Frenchman is set to pair up with fellow compatriot Pierre Gasly at the Enstone-based team next year after Gasly made the switch following the 2022 season. The two drivers have notoriously quarreled in the past, but claim to have put all the bad blood past them.

Ocon managed to outscore his teammate and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso in 2022. However, the Spaniard believes that he lost a whole load of valuable points to numerous mechanical failures over the course of the season. Fernando Alonso has since changed camps and will replace Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin in 2023.

It will be interesting to see whether Esteban Ocon can hold off hot-shot Pierre Gasly in equal machinery next year.