Esteban Ocon


Esteban Ocon is a French racing driver who currently is signed to race for Renault F1 Team alongside Daniel Ricciardo in 2020. He made his Formula One debut for Manor Racing in the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix, replacing Rio Haryanto. Ocon was a part of the Mercedes-Benz driver development programme until his departure for Renault.

Early life

Esteban Ocon was born in Évreux, Normandy to Sabrine Khelfane and Laurent Ocon. Laurent Ocon is a mechanic who owns a garage in Évreux. He is of Algerian and Spanish descent as his paternal family is originally from Málaga.

Early career

2006–2011: Karting

Ocon entered karting in 2006, when he finished eighth in the French Minime Championship, subsequently winning the championship in the following year. His success continued in 2008, as he won the French Cadet Championship. On the back of that victory, Ocon began the first of his three seasons in the KF3 kart category. He would ultimately win the French KF3 title and finish as runner-up in the WSK Euro Series in 2011, his final season before stepping up to cars.
At the age of 14, Ocon was signed by Gravity Sports management, a sister company of Renault F1 team.

2012–2014: Formula Renault

In 2012, Ocon made his debut in single-seaters, taking part in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 with Koiranen Motorsport. He finished fourteenth with four point-scoring finishes, including being on the podium at his home round at Le Castellet. He also contested a partial campaign in the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps with Koiranen, finishing seventh with two podiums, both of which came at the Red Bull Ring.
For 2013, he decided to switch to the ART Junior Team. He took three podiums, as well as his first victory at Le Castellet, and finished the season in third.
Ocon joined the World Series in Renault's 3.5 category for Comtec Racing at the Hungaroring and Le Castellet, scoring two points in his first race.

2014–2015: Formula Three, GP3 and DTM

Ocon made his Formula Three debut at the Macau Grand Prix, racing for Prema Powerteam. In 2014 he expanded his collaboration with Prema into the FIA European Formula Three Championship. He was on top of the standings since the first round at Silverstone and won the championship with a round to spare.
On 11 March 2015, it was announced that Ocon would move to FIA Formula 3 European Championship rival GP3 Series with ART Grand Prix. He claimed the championship despite only scoring one victory and pressure from Luca Ghiotto.
Ocon drove for Mercedes-Benz in the first 10 races of the 2016 DTM season, alongside his reserve driver role at Renault Sport F1. He was subsequently replaced by Felix Rosenqvist, following his promotion to Manor.

Formula One career

Ocon's first experience of a Formula One car was on 22 October 2014, driving the Lotus E20 as part of a two-day test for Lotus F1. A month later, he made his Grand Prix weekend debut for Lotus during the first practice session at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
In May 2015, Ocon was called up by Force India to drive at the post-race test in Barcelona, after Pascal Wehrlein was forced to withdraw due to illness. Prior to him claiming the GP3 title, it was announced that Ocon would enter the junior programme of the Mercedes F1 team. In February 2016, it was announced that Ocon would act as reserve driver for the Renault Sport F1 team for the season. He took part in four FP1 sessions for the team.

Manor (2016)

On 10 August 2016, Rio Haryanto was dropped from the backmarker Manor Racing team after his sponsors had failed to meet their contractual obligations. Ocon was named as his replacement for the second half of the season, driving alongside Pascal Wehrlein. Ocon made his Formula One debut at the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix, finishing 16th. He earned his best result of 12th in the chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix, dropping out of the points on the final lap.

Force India (2017–2018)

2017

On 10 November 2016, Force India announced that they had signed Ocon for the season as part of his multi-year contract with Mercedes, with Sergio Pérez as his new teammate. Ocon scored his first Formula One point in his first race for Force India in Australia. He finished 10th in the first three races of the season. He then finished 7th at the Russian GP, and continued the points streak with a 5th place at the Spanish GP. He stood at 8th in the drivers' championship following the Austrian Grand Prix. Following that, he recorded 8th place in front of his teammate. He followed up with 9th in Hungary. In Belgium, Ocon was involved in a controversial collision with teammate Pérez, ending Pérez's race. His streak of finishing 27 consecutive races ended at the Brazilian Grand Prix where he had an accident with Romain Grosjean after they collided on the first lap of the race. He finished his first full season with 87 points and 8th in the championship after an 8th-place finish in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

2018

Ocon continued alongside Pérez at Force India for, in a season that saw numerous incidents between the two teammates. Ocon's first points of the season came with a 10th-place finish in Bahrain. In Azerbaijan, he was involved in a first-lap collision with Kimi Räikkönen that ended his race. Teammate Pérez would go on to claim a podium finish. Ocon retired with an oil leak at the next race in Spain. He then recorded 6th and 9th place finishes in Monaco and Canada respectively, but then retired from his home race in France after a first-lap collision. Three more points finishes followed before the summer break.
By the summer break, Force India was in severe financial trouble and faced a winding-up order from HMRC. A group of creditors including teammate Pérez took legal action against the team and put it into administration, saving the team from collapse and the jobs of its employees. The assets of the team were purchased by a consortium of investors led by Canadian businessman Lawrence Stroll, father of Williams driver Lance Stroll. Some suspected that Lance Stroll would now soon join Racing Point Force India, replacing Ocon due to Pérez's role in saving the team. However, the new team confirmed that Ocon and Pérez would continue with them for the rest of the season. It was later revealed that Ocon had an "informal agreement" to join Renault for before the team made a shock signing in Daniel Ricciardo, now leaving Ocon's future in doubt.
At the new team's first race in Belgium, Ocon produced excellent drives to qualify 3rd and finish 6th, the best starting position of his career. Another 6th place followed in Italy. In Singapore, Ocon and Pérez collided on the first lap, causing Ocon to crash into a wall and ending his race. The team described the collision as "unnacceptable" and banned the drivers from racing each other. Pérez apologised for his role in the accident. Two 9th places followed, before Ocon was disqualified from 8th place at the United States Grand Prix after his car was found to have exceeded fuel flow limits.
At the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix, Ocon hit race leader Max Verstappen while trying to unlap himself, damaging both cars. Both drivers were able to continue racing, and Ocon received a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for the incident. They argued just after the race and Verstappen and Ocon pushed each other several times. Both drivers were summoned by the FIA and Verstappen was given two days of public service "at the discretion of the FIA" for making deliberate physical contact with Ocon.
Ocon finished the season in 12th place in the championship with 49 points.

Mercedes reserve driver (2019)

On 23 November 2018, it was announced that Ocon would join Mercedes as their reserve driver for after it became clear that he would be replaced at Racing Point by Lance Stroll—an outcome that was finally confirmed a week later. Ocon would not take part in a Grand Prix weekend during the year. He was a contender to take the second Mercedes seat alongside Lewis Hamilton in, however the team decided to continue with Valtteri Bottas.

Renault (2020-)

On 29 August 2019, it was announced that Ocon will race for Renault starting in, on a two-year contract. His Renault debut will mark his return to Formula One as a full-time driver. He will replace Nico Hülkenberg, and partner with Daniel Ricciardo.

Racing record

Career summary

* Season still in progress.

Complete FIA European Formula 3 Championship

YearEntrant123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233DCPoints
2014Prema PowerteamSIL
1
2		SIL
2
1		SIL
3
3		HOC
1
9		HOC
2
1		HOC
3
2		PAU
1
1		PAU
2
2		PAU
3
2		HUN
1
2		HUN
2
1		HUN
3
1		SPA
1
Ret		SPA
2
2		SPA
3
2		NOR
1
2		NOR
2
14		NOR
3
2		MSC
1
1		MSC
2
1		MSC
3
1		RBR
1
13		RBR
2
Ret		RBR
3
13		NÜR
1
6		NÜR
2
3		NÜR
3
Ret		IMO
1
1		IMO
2
4		IMO
3
3		HOC
1
7		HOC
2
4		HOC
3
7		1st478

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

YearTeam1234567891011121314151617PosPoints
2014Comtec RacingMNZ
1		MNZ
2		ALC
1		ALC
2		MON
1		SPA
1		SPA
2		MSC
1		MSC
2		NÜR
1		NÜR
2		HUN
1
9		HUN
2
DNS		LEC
1
14		LEC
2
12		JER
1		JER
2		23rd2

Complete GP3 Series results

YearEntrant123456789101112131415161718PosPoints
2015ART Grand PrixCAT
FEA
1		CAT
SPR
7		RBR
FEA
3		RBR
SPR
DSQ		SIL
FEA
6		SIL
SPR
2		HUN
FEA
2		HUN
SPR
2		SPA
FEA
2		SPA
SPR
2		MNZ
FEA
2		MNZ
SPR
2		SOC
FEA
2		SOC
SPR
2		BHR
FEA
3		BHR
SPR
2		YMC
FEA
4		YMC
SPR
3		1st253

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

YearTeamCar123456789101112131415161718PosPoints
2016Mercedes-Benz DTM Team ARTMercedes-AMG C63 DTMHOC
1
Ret		HOC
2
Ret		SPL
1
20		SPL
2
18		LAU
1
23		LAU
2
15		NOR
1
Ret		NOR
2
13		ZAN
1
9		ZAN
2
18		MSC
1		MSC
2		NÜR
1		NÜR
2		HUN
1		HUN
2		HOC
1		HOC
2		26th2

Complete Formula One results

YearEntrantChassisEngine123456789101112131415161718192021Points
Lotus F1 TeamLotus E22Renault Energy F12014 1.6 V6 tAUSMALBHRCHNESPMONCANAUTGBRGERHUNBELITASINJPNRUSUSABRAABU
TD		 – –
Renault Sport F1 TeamRenault R.S.16Renault R.E.16 1.6 V6 tAUSBHRCHNRUSESP
TD		MONCANEURAUTGBR
TD		HUN
TD		GER
TD		23rd0
Manor Racing MRTManor MRT05Mercedes PU106C Hybrid 1.6 V6 tBEL
16		ITA
18		SIN
18		MAL
16		JPN
21		USA
18		MEX
21		BRA
12		ABU
13		23rd0
Sahara Force India F1 TeamForce India VJM10Mercedes M08 EQ Power+ 1.6 V6 tAUS
10		CHN
10		BHR
10		RUS
7		ESP
5		MON
12		CAN
6		AZE
6		AUT
8		GBR
8		HUN
9		BEL
9		ITA
6		SIN
10		MAL
10		JPN
6		USA
6		MEX
5		BRA
Ret		ABU
8		8th87
Sahara Force India F1 TeamForce India VJM11Mercedes M09 EQ Power+ 1.6 V6 tAUS
12		BHR
10		CHN
11		AZE
Ret		ESP
Ret		MON
6		CAN
9		FRA
Ret		AUT
6		GBR
7		GER
8		HUN
13		12th49
Racing Point Force India F1 TeamForce India VJM11Mercedes M09 EQ Power+ 1.6 V6 tBEL
6		ITA
6		SIN
Ret		RUS
9		JPN
9		USA
DSQ		MEX
11		BRA
14		ABU
Ret		12th49
Renault DP World F1 TeamRenault R.S.20Renault E-Tech 20 1.6 V6 tAUT
8		STY
Ret		HUN
14		GBR70AESPBELITATUSRUSEIFPOREMI13th*4*

* Season still in progress.

Formula One records

Ocon holds the following Formula One records: