Esteban Ocon "knows how to deal" with Verstappen

Force India's Esteban Ocon says that he knows how to deal with Formula One's young star Max Verstappen.

The two raced together in 2014 in the FIA Formula Three European championship, which Ocon won. Verstappen finished that campaign third before making his F1 debut in 2015.

"It's always been the same with Max," Ocon explained to French broadcaster Canal + Sport.

"In Formula 3, we would bang wheels all the time and there would be some brave overtaking. And if I didn't lift, he would just hit me.

"But I know how to deal with him. You move to one side and cross over and pass him on the other."

The two are poised to fight each other again in a championship fight in the future, this time in motorsport's pinnacle.

In their year competing in Formula Three, Ocon claimed 14 pole positions and 9 wins, to Verstappen's 7 poles and 9 wins.