Introduction
Before the summer break, we had a surprising first time winner at the Hungarian Grand Prix. After the chaos in turn 1, the race took an unexpected turn and it was Esteban Ocon who finally crossed the finish line first. Now that this Frenchman has joined the list of Grand Prix Winners, let’s have a look at his career so far.
Early Days...
Esteban José Jean-Pierre Ocon-Khelfane was born on the 17th of September 1996 in the city of Évreux, France. His parents, Sabrine Khelfane and Laurent Ocon are from Algerian and Spanish descent, but being born in France, Esteban has French nationality and drives under the French flag.
At the age of 10, he started karting and ended his first season of the French Minime Championship in eighth position. The following year, he topped the standings at the end of the season, winning his first championship title in motorsport. In 2008, Ocon won the French Cadet championship, and decided to participate in international karting championships. The first one he participated in was the KF3-category, in which he raced 3 seasons. He ultimately won the title and finished second in the WSK Euro series in 2011. After this achievement, Ocon moved on to cars. At the age of 14, he was signed by Gravity Sports management, a sister company of Renault F1 team.
In 2012, he made his debut in single seaters when he participated in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 with the Koiranen Motorsports team. He ended his first season in fourteenth place with 31 points, but did score a podium during his home race at the Paul Ricard Circuit. He also participated in several races of the Formula 2.0 Alps for Koiranen Motorsports, where he scored two podiums at the Red Bull Ring, and finished seventh in the overall standings.
Ocon switched to the ART Junior team in the Europacup a year later. With this team he scored 5 podiums, two of which were first places. He eventually ended third in the championship behind Pierre Gasly and Oliver Rowland. He again participated in another championship too, in the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup. In the first race of the season, Estaban took home first place trophy at the Hockenheimring and finished twice on the podium, which led to a twelfth overall place.
In 2013, Esteban made his Formula 3 debut at the Macau Grand Prix, racing for Prema Powerteam. The following year he extended his collaboration with the Prema team into the FIA European Formula 3 Championship. He was on top of the standings from the first round at Silverstone and won the title with still one race to go.
On 11 March 2015, it was announced that Ocon would move to the rival GP3 Series with the ART Grand Prix team. He won that series and claimed the title in spite of just scoring one triumph (two other victories were denied because of penalties) and the pressing factor of fellow driver Luca Ghiotto.
Ocon drove for Mercedes-Benz in the initial 10 races of the 2016 DTM season, whilst also being reserve driver for Renault Sport F1.
Joining the F1 Circus...
His debut in a Formula One car Estaban made on 22 October 2014, driving the Lotus E20 as a feature of a two-day test for Lotus F1. A month later, he made his Grand Prix weekend debut for Lotus during FP1 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 had to pull out due to illness. Prior to winning the GP3 title, it was announced that the Frenchman would join the Mercedes Junior Team. In February 2016, Ocon was announced as reserve driver for the Renault Sport F1 group for the coming season. He participated in Friday practice meetings at four Grands Prix for the French team.
On 10 August 2016, Rio Haryanto was dropped from the backmarker Manor Racing team and Esteban Ocon was named as his replacement for the second half of the season. The French driver made his Formula One race debut at the Belgian Grand Prix, finishing eventually in 16th place. His best result was twelfth that year, in the Brazilian Grand Prix which was heavily affected by rain. For a long time it seemed he would score points, but fell back in the final lap and missed out on the championship points.
By the end of that season, on 10 November 2016 to be precise, Force India announced that Ocon would be on their team for the 2017 season, as part of a multi-year contract the driver had with Mercedes. He would drive alongside Sergio Perez in the famous pink cars.
With this car, he scored his first points in F1 by finishing tenth in the first three races of that season. More points followed after a seventh place at the Russian Grand Prix, and a fifth place at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Ocon recorded twelve consecutive points finishes, but was frequently involved in incidents with his teammate Pérez. At the Canadian Grand Prix for example, Pérez ignored team instructions to let Ocon pass by in order to challenge Daniel Ricciardo for third spot, and Pérez and Ocon ultimately completed fifth and 6th. At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the two drivers crashed, which led to Perez having to retire and Ocon having a puncture. At the Belgian Grand Prix they collided at the Belgian Grand Prix, where Ocon was squeezed towards a wall leaning up to Eau Rouge. Perez was again forced to retire, whereas Ocon made it until the end and finished ninth. After the race the two clashed again and Esteban blamed his teammate for risking their lives.
The French driver started the Italian Grand Prix from the second row, in third place, which was his highest grid position so far. He eventually crossed the finish line in sixth. During the Mexican Grand Prix, it seemed like he would end up on the podium, as he ran in third place for most of the race, but eventually ended the race in fifth place.
His streak of finishing consecutive races ended after the 27th race, at the Brazilian Grand Prix. He and compatriot Romain Grosjean crashed on the first lap, which led to Ocon’s retirement.
Ocon ended his first full F1 season in eighth place, having scored 87 points.
The Force India-duo continued for another season, during which Ocon scored his first points at the second race of the season, with a tenth place in Bahrain. Two races later, at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the Frenchman was involved in another first-lap collision, this time with Finnish driver Kimi Räikkönen. Ocon had to retire, and saw his teammate getting a podium finish.
In Spain, Ocon also had to retire his car due to an oil leak, but scored points the following races with a sixth and ninth place.
After the Hungarian Grand Prix, news came out that Force India was in financial trouble and faced liquidation. A group of creditors, including Pérez, took legal action against the team and put it into administration, which saved the team and the many jobs of its employees. Canadian businessman Lawrence Stroll then stepped up and purchased the team’s assets.
The team continued the season with Ocon and Perez as its drivers, although later it was revealed that Ocon already had an ‘informal agreement’ with Renault to join them for the 2019-season. When the French team surprisingly gave Daniel Ricciardo a seat for that season, Ocon’s future was in doubt.
The Struggle Continues...
With his team, now being renamed to Racing Point Force India, Ocon managed to score his highest starting position, third, but finished the race in only sixth place. At the Singapore GP there was another collision of the two teammates in which Ocon crashed into a wall and saw his race cut short. The collision was described as “unacceptable” by the Racing Point team and Perez and Ocon were banned from racing each other. The Mexican driver later did apologize for his role in the accident. But that did not help Ocon much, as he was the one who had a DNF behind his name.
At the United States Grand Prix, Ocon was disqualified from eighth place, after his car was found to have exceeded fuel flow limits. The Frenchman was involved in another collision, with Dutch driver Max Verstappen this time, at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Whilst trying to un-lap himself, Ocon collided with the Dutchman, who was at that moment leading the race. Both cars spun and were damaged, but could continue the race. Ocon received a 10-seconds stop-and-go penalty and finished fourteenth. Verstappen saw Hamilton take home the win and had to settle for second.
After the race Ocon and Verstappen were involved in an altercation which consisted of the drivers pushing each other angrily. Both drivers were summoned by the FIA and Verstappen would later be given two days of public service "at the discretion of the FIA" for making deliberate physical contact with Ocon.
Esteban did not not have much luck during the 2018-season, and in November 2018 it was announced that his Racing Point seat for the next season would be given to Lance Stroll - the son of investor Lawrence Stroll, who had saved the team earlier. For the 2019-season, Ocon joined Mercedes as a reserve driver, but did not take part in any of the race weekends.
There were talks with Mercedes of Ocon replacing Bottas for the 2020-season, but ultimately the Silver Arrows decided to continue with the Fin, and Ocon had to find another solution.
Back in the Game...
For that 2020-season, Ocon signed a two-year contract with Renault, which would mean his return to F1 as full-time driver after a year of absence. He replaced Nico Hülkenberg and paired with multiple-Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo.
He qualified fourteenth on his Renault debut at the Austrian Grand Prix and finished eighth out of eleven cars that crossed the finish line. At the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, he was given a grid penalty after hindering George Russell in qualifying and started the race from fourteenth place, but climbed through the field and finished eighth. His best race finish since 2017 came at the Belgian Grand Prix, where he qualified sixth and completed fifth behind teammate Ricciardo.
A few weeks later, during the Tuscan Grand Prix, the brakes of Esteban’s car caught fire during a safety car period. The Renault team wasn't able to fix the damage and Ocon had to retire the car.
At the Turkish Grand Prix, Ocon started from seventh place but climbed right after a chaotic start to third place. Unfortunately both Renaults made contact at the first turn, which caused Ocon to spin. Ricciardo apologised to his teammate for the encounter, although Ocon did not think the contact was Ricciardo's fault. Another incident involving Bottas and Ocon later on the first lap left Ocon with a punctured tyre, and Bottas with steering damage for the rest of the race. The Renault of Esteban Ocon did finish the race, but scored no points as he crossed the line eleventh.
The Sakhir Grand Prix is a race many will remember, and so does Esteban Ocon. He started the race from eleventh at the grid. He had improved to fifth by lap 54 of 87, with some help from some collisions on the opening lap and drivers pitting two times. A virtual security car followed, during which Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo (3rd and 4th) tried to take advantage by entering the pits. However, the VSC ended exactly when both cars were in the pits, nullifying their advantage. Ocon moved to third place. Shortly after he was overtaken bij ex-teammate Sergio Pérez, which made the French driver go back to fourth. But failed pitstops for both of the leading Mercedes cars saw them falling back on the field, and Ocon was promoted to second. He finished the race in this place, behind Pérez, and took his first Formula One podium after a strange race during the Sakhir Grand Prix. This was also the best result for Renault in ten years, which made the celebrations even better.
A Promising Future...
For the 2021-season, Ocon stayed with Renault, which rebranded as Alpine F1. Daniel Ricciardo had announced that he would leave Renault for McLaren, so the French team signed two-time world champion Fernando Alonso as teammate for Esteban Ocon.
In the first race with the Alpine-colours, Ocon was rear-ended by Sebastian Vettel in his Aston Martin. The Frenchman did finish the race, but only in thirteenth. During the races of the 2021-season, Ocon and Alonso were pretty equal in their results, starting and finishing close to each other.
At the Hungarian Grand Prix, the last race before the summer break, Ocon started eight. A breaking mistake of Valtteri Bottas led to a big bowling game in turn one of the first lap. Ocon maneuvered around all the spinning cars and was promoted from eighth into second, running behind world champion Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes pitted for dry-weather tyres one lap later than the rest of the field, which meant that Ocon was leading the race. He held on to that lead during the remainder of the race, defending well to Sebastian Vettel. His teammate Alonso, running in fourth, did his best to keep Lewis Hamilton, who was fighting his way back to the podium, behind. The Spaniard managed to do so for 11 whole laps, which was enough to stop Hamilton from climbing to that top step of the podium. Hamilton did make it on the podium, but it was Esteban Ocon who, after a chaotic race start, took his maiden Formula One victory in Hungary.
A big celebration followed, as well as an amazing moment between the two Alpine drivers that showed that Ocon’s win was partially thanks to Alonso.
The two teammates work well together and Ocon is really showing his talent in the French team. He has signed with them for three more years.
Although his seat at the French team is confirmed until the end of 2024, he will probably keep an eye on a Mercedes-seat as well. Ocon is still linked to the team of the Silver Arrows and who knows what the future will bring him. With a strong 2021-season so far, he’s in 11th place on the Championship standings with still 10 races to go, and three more seasons already confirmed, he has enough time to develop and show himself.
Esteban Ocon, a driver who was always present in the mid-field, but didn’t really shine. But a driver who is showing his talent more and more during every race, a driver who made the French reporters lose their voices after his maiden win, and who will hopefully sign many more Grand Prix victories to his name.
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