Esteban Ocon

Esteban Ocon is a talented French racing driver and two-time champion in international single-seater championships who made a debut in Formula One in 2016. He raced in F1 with Manor (2016) and Force India (2017 and 2018) before having a year off in 2019 and then signing for Renault for 2020 F1 season.

Before he entered the premium open-wheel racing competition, Ocon was the 2014 FIA Formula 3 European Championship winner and 2015 GP3 Series champion.

Esteban Ocon

Ocon began his career in karting

Esteban Ocon was born on September 17, 1996, in Evreux, the town in Upper Normandy. When he was a 10-year-old, Ocon began to drive karting and in 2007 he won the title in the French Minime Championship. Next year, he became a French Cadet champion and he was ready for the international stage.

In 2009, Esteban started to compete in the karting KF3 class and until 2011 he won the French KF3 title and was the vice-champion in the WSK Euro Series.

Move to Formula Renault

Formula Renault 2.0 was the next station in Esteban’s career. Driving in Eurocup for Koiranen Motorsport Esteban finished fourteenth with four point-scoring finishes, also including a podium at his home round at Le Castellet. He also raced in Formula Renault 2.0 Alps Series. He finished seventh with two podiums.

Esteban Ocon, ART Grand Prix, Formula Renault

Esteban stayed in Formula Renault Eurocup in 2013 but this time as a member of ART Junior Team. The progress was big since Ocon won 2 out of 14 races and had other three podiums, eventually taking the 3rd place in the championship, behind Pierre Gasly and Oliver Rowland. Talented Frenchman also raced in eight races of Formula Renault 2.0 NEC, winning one race and having a total of three finishes.

Formula 3 champion in 2014

Ocon moved to European Formula 3 Championship in 2014. Driving for Prema Powerteam he won the title in the first attempt, winning 9 out of 33 races and having other 12 podiums. He finished the season 58 points ahead of the runner-up Tom Blomqvist and 67 ahead of third-placed Max Verstappen.

Ocon was 2014 Formula 3 champion

The same year he appeared in three races of Formula Renault 3.5 Series and picked two points in his first race. It is important to mention the fact that Esteban got an opportunity to drive for Lotus F1 team in November. His talent was spotted by Mercedes and they decided to sign Ocon for their Formula 1 junior program.

Esteban won 2015 GP3 Series title

The stream of successes has continued in 2015 in which Esteban competed in GP3 Series, driving for ART Grand Prix. Ocon won the title and even though he has won only one out of 18 races, he had a total of 13 podium finishes, establishing himself as a reliable and fast driver.

Another interesting fact from that season is that Ocon scored nine consecutive 2nd places. Parallel to his GP3 Series duties, Ocon stayed in Formula 1, acting as a Force India’s test driver.

Esteban Ocon, 2015 GP3 Series champion at Monza

Short spell in DTM and F1 debut

Mercedes wanted to keep Ocon sharp and in 2016 sent him to the DTM series where he replaced the reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein who is also Mercedes’ protege and who got a chance to drive for Manor in Formula 1 World Championship.

At the same time, Esteban was Renault F1 Team’s test and a reserve pilot.

Ocon spent half of the season in DTM driving for Mercedes

Formula One debut with Manor

Ocon could hardly settle in DTM and the results were relatively poor as he managed to pick points in only one out of 10 races. A bit surprisingly, Mercedes secured him a drive in 2016 Formula 1 World Championship.

He got the seat in Manor, where he replaced Rio Haryanto from the 13th round. It was the Belgian Grand Prix in which he finished 16th. In nine starts with Manor, Ocon's best result was 12th place in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Esteban Ocon debuted in Formula 1 with Manor team

Full-time Formula One drive with Force India

Esteban’s talent and Mercedes' connections secured him a full-time seat for the 2017 Formula One season. He signed for Force India to drive the #31 VJM-10 (Mercedes). Ocon became point scorer from his first race with Force India, continuing to finish among top 10 drivers in almost every race (18 of 20). His best result was the fifth place in Spain and Mexico. At the end of the season, he was eighth in the points.

He stayed in the #31 car in 2018, scoring points in ten races and finishing the season 12th in the points, four places behind his teammate Sergio Perez.

Ocon spent two seasons with Force India

A year off in 2019, return to Renault in 2020

Ocon spent the 2019 F1 season out of competition, serving as a reserve driver for Mercedes. Then, in August 2019, it was announced that Ocon will rejoin Renault F1 Team, for which he served as a test driver in 2016, as a full-time driver for the 2020 Formula One season.

Photo: Force India, kartcom.com speedsport-magazine.com fiaf3europe.com motorsportpress.co.uk f1i.com