Esteban Ocon

1. Who is Esteban Ocon?
2. Esteban Ocon’s junior career
3. Esteban Ocon’s Grand Prix (F1) journey
4. AutoHebdo's opinion on Esteban Ocon
5. Learn more about Esteban Ocon

1. Who is Esteban Ocon?

Esteban Ocon is a French racing driver. His date of birth is September 17, 1996 in Evreux. He is currently in Formula 1, with Alpine F1 Team.

2. Esteban Ocon’s junior career

After having studied karting, Esteban Ocon started in single-seaters in 2012. He discovered the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 with the Koiranen GP team, where he finished 4 times in the points and got on his first podium. Ocon continued in this championship the following season with the ART Junior Team. At the same time, he joined the Lotus F1 Junior Team. That same year, the young racing driver made his debut in the European Formula 3 championship, at the Macau Grand Prix with Prema Powerteam.

Esteban Ocon during a karting competition in Paris ©Gregory Lenormand /DPPI

The year 2014 marked Esteban Ocon's first title in the Formula 3 European Championship. Still in the same team, he faced Max Verstappen, who would discover Formula 1 the following year. His record is excellent, the Frenchman wins thanks to 9 victories and 21 podiums in 33 races. Ferrari and Lotus F1 even offered him test days, including a free practice session during the last Formula 1 GP in Abu Dhabi, at the wheel of a Lotus E22. In 2015, Esteban Ocon and Mercedes formalized the arrival of the Frenchman in the young program of the star brand, which has been following him for several years. He became a reserve driver in DTM, while starting a GP3 Series season at ART Grand Prix. Legitimate favorite at the start of the season, Esteban Ocon assumed this status and won the driver's title against a tough opponent, in the person of Luca Ghiotto. This title led him to become a reserve driver at Renault F1 Team. At the same time, Mercedes sent him to the DTM before he made his debut in Formula 1.

Esteban Ocon driving his Formula 3 during the Macau Grand Prix in 2014 © Florent Gooden / DPPI.

3. Esteban Ocon’s Grand Prix (F1) journey

In August 2016, Manor Racing announced that Esteban Ocon replaced Rio Haryanto for the end of the season. With a team at the back of the grid, the beginner cannot perform miracles. His 12th place in Brazil remains his best result of the season.

He still caught the eye of the Force India managers who decided to associate him with Sergio Perez for the 2017 season. Proof of his talent, the Frenchman got off to a strong start as he scored a point in the inaugural Grand Prix in Australia. His 10th place in Melbourne allowed him to become the youngest French driver in the history of the sport to score points. His record at the start of the season is good with numerous points finishes, including a 5th place at the Spanish GP, his best result of 2017. But the relationship with his teammate Sergio Pérez is strained after a double crash at the Belgian GP. Force India leaders forbid the two drivers from fighting. This does not really disturb Esteban Ocon, surprising 2rd in qualifying at Monza, thanks to the downgrading of Verstappen and Ricciardo, before finishing 3th in the GP. He finished 6th in the Drivers' standings and the team decided to field him again for the following year.

Esteban Ocon and his Force India in 2017 © Clement Marin / DPPI

The start of the season is less prolific than in 2017. Ocon nevertheless finished 8th in the Monaco Grand Prix, which gives hope to the Frenchman when arriving at his Grand Prix: the French GP, back on the calendar of the Formula 1. On the Castellet track, he qualified 11th but his race ended abruptly, following a collision with Pierre Gasly's car on the first lap. At the Belgian Grand Prix, he achieved the best result for the Racing Point team (formerly Force India) in qualifying with a 3rd place. The Norman driver finished 6th in the race. At the Hungarian Grand Prix, the Indian team completely missed its race, Ocon and Pérez finishing 13th and 14th. Relations between the two teammates are strained once again after their fight in Singapore. His end of the season was punctuated by good and bad results. At the Brazilian Grand Prix, he tried to overtake Max Verstappen, then the race leader. The two drivers clash and the Dutchman is furious at having lost the race. He even pushed the Frenchman during the post-race weigh-in. He ended his season with a retirement at the last meeting and ranked 12th in the Formula 1 Drivers' Championship.

In 2019, Lance Stroll takes the place of the Frenchman who finds himself without a seat. His career suddenly came to a halt; Mercedes then offered him a place as 3rd driver and Ocon spent hours in the simulator to best prepare for the GPs of the two drivers from the star firm, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. Even without a seat, Esteban Ocon keeps one foot in Formula 1 and tries the settings of the world champion car.

Esteban Ocon, test driver at Mercedes in 2019 © Antonin Vincent / DPPI

On August 29, 2019, the Renault team formalized the arrival of Esteban Ocon for the following two seasons. A tandem for which France can be enthusiastic!

Disrupted by the pandemic, the 2020 season started late and Esteban Ocon seemed in difficulty against his new teammate Daniel Ricciardo. The one who was born in Evreux nevertheless finished 6th in the British Grand Prix after making several overtakes and taking advantage of punctures from Carlos Sainz JR and Valtteri Bottas. Once again, Esteban Ocon is not very consistent, 5th in Belgium, he then gives up in Tuscany. His Hungarian Grand Prix was disappointing. Starting 14th, he finished in the same place in the race. The highlight of his season arrives on the Sakhir circuit. Starting from 11th place on the grid, Esteban Ocon took advantage of the misfortunes of George Russell, replacing Lewis Hamilton, positive for Covid-19, and other racing events to get on his first podium in Formula 1, he finished 2nd behind Sergio Perez.

Esteban Ocon on his first Formula 1 podium in Sakhir in 2020 © Antonin Vincent / DPPI

In 2021, Norman is a pilot at Alpine, the new name of the Renault team, alongside double Spanish world champion Fernando Alonso. At 24, Esteban Ocon becomes winner of the Hungarian Grand Prix at the end of a race full of twists and turns. This is his first victory in Formula 1. Starting 8th on the grid, the driver came out of several pile-ups at the start of the Hungarian round without incident. Esteban Ocon finds himself second in the Hungarian Grand Prix behind Lewis Hamilton. The Briton is the only driver who decides to keep his intermediate tires on a drying track, and all the others go to the pits to put on slicks! Esteban Ocon therefore takes the reins of the Hungarian Grand Prix and never lets go. After Pierre Gasly, France has a new Grand Prix winner.

Esteban Ocon's first victory in Formula 1 during the 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix © Antonin Vincent / DPPI

Far from the fierce fight between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso form a united team, trying to maximize the potential of a French car which, sometimes, is no match for other manufacturers. At the end of the game, Alpine finished 5th in the constructors' standings, sandwiched between McLaren and AphaTauri. At the Qatar Grand Prix, Ocon's teammate Fernando Alonso reached the podium. Two weeks later, in Saudi Arabia, Ocon was knocked off the podium by Valtteri Bottas, teammate of Lewis Hamilton. His assessment of the season? An 11th place confirming the membership ofAlpine in the middle of the table.

This season installs him comfortably in the French seat, and Ocon continues his momentum for the 2022 revolution. A solid campaign, where the driver and his teammate secure 4th place in the Manufacturers for the blue-white-red manufacturer. He finished 11 points ahead of his teammate, in 8th place. But the season was eventful, the car being capricious and suffering from serious reliability problems which deprived the drivers of valuable results... even if Ocon's car ended up on the sidelines less often than Alonso's.

The transition to 2023 is validated, but his champion teammate gives way to his childhood rival and compatriot: Pierre Gasly. The French Formula 1 team and two experienced wolves, with similar statistics. Everything is done to compare them in 2023, and Ocon must count on its liabilities withinAlpine to assert yourself. However, the season is not going as well as hoped: the A arrow falls in the hierarchy behind Aston Martin and McLaren, and Esteban Ocon can only fight for small points. The Norman still scored a prestigious podium, in Monaco, and finished 12th in the championship... four points behind Pierre Gasly.

In 2024, cohabitation between the two French people will continue, and Esteban Ocon will have the firm intention of taking his revenge against his teammate, but also of bringing back Alpine in the first half of the table.

4. AutoHebdo's opinion on Esteban Ocon

Often put in difficulty by his teammates, Esteban Ocon has a strength of character of his own. The Norman always finds a way to bounce back even if it sometimes takes time. At the house of Alpine, Fernando Alonso had taken the upper hand but the Frenchman seized the first opportunity he received, in Hungary, to shine. In his first seasons, these triumphs in qualifying often made an impression. Unfortunately for him, the takeover of the Force India team by Lawrence Stroll put him in a bad position and gave rise to a year in the closet at Mercedes. Esteban Ocon was able to turn the page at Renault then Alpine, by establishing himself as a solid, regular, but above all resilient driver.

Today, the French team trusts it and has extended it until 2024. If the new regulations introduced in 2022 did not allow Alpine to get out of the middle of the grid, Esteban Ocon was able to seize opportunities when they presented themselves, like his podium in Monaco in 2023. We can bet that victory in Hungary, in 2021, will bring others , even if he has to deal with another Grand Prix winner, Pierre Gasly, at Alpine.