Gwen Lagrue: “Esteban has always been there”

Whether in 2014 or even more in 2015 when the fight for the GP3 Series title with the Italian Luca Ghiotto was very close, Esteban Ocon always won the crown in the two major international championships in which he competed.

While the career of the young 19-year-old Frenchman will take a new turn starting with the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps at the end of August, the new owner of Manor Racing, replacing the Indonesian Rio Haryanto, should easily adapt to the pressure that will surround his racing debut in F1 according to Gwen Lagrue.

“We were able to check in the lower categories that Esteban always responded in the most intense moments in terms of pressure, analyzes the sector manager Mercedes, which has followed the Normand since its beginnings. During EL1 carried out for Renault this season, he hasn't made the slightest mistake...

At Spa, when he starts, he will perhaps feel a greater emotion than those he has experienced until now, but I have total confidence in him to manage this pressure linked to F1. He is ready. »

Find our decryption of Esteban Ocon’s tenure at Manor Racing and our interview with the French driver, in issue 2076 of AUTOhebdo, available now in digital version and on newsstands.