Esteban Ocon

Formula 1 driver

Vital statistics for Esteban Ocon
Nationality	FRA
Birthplace	Normandy, France
Born	17 September 1996
Age	26
F1 debut	Belgian Grand Prix, 2016
Driver number	31
Current team	Sahara Force India F1 Team

Esteban Ocon finds himself in great demand from two teams - Renault and Mercedes. Initially in the Lotus young driver programme, Ocon joined the Mercedes development programme instead. From a combination of both links, he has experience as a test driver for Renault, Mercedes and Force India, half a season of racing at Manor and a deal for 2017 with the Force India team for a full season of racing.

F1 biography

Ocon started his motorsport career with the traditional karting championships, winning in France before taking on more international competitions. He moved into single seater racing in 2012, participating in the Formula Renault series, in several of its variations. He was a strong contender, finshing on the podium in his first season, and adding more trophies as he continued.

In 2014, Ocon moved to the Formula Three series, winning the championship at his first attempt. He also participated in a handful of Renault 3.5 events and impressed in those as well. As part of the Lotus young driver initiative, Ocon was given the chance to test with the F1 team, and drove in Friday practice at Abu Dhabi in the last round of the 2014 season. He also drove alongside fellow countryman Romain Grosjean in the Race of Champions at the end of the year.

For the 2015 motorsport year, Ocon participated in the GP3 series for ART, winning the championship at his first attempt. He was also a test driver for the Force India F1 team, and switched to the Mercedes young driver programme rather than sticking with the Lotus outfit. However, when Renault rebranded ahead of the 2016 season, they wanted their French driver back and Mercedes agreed to loan Esteban Ocon back to the Enstone squad as reserve driver.

Out of the blue, midway through the 2016 season, Esteban got the call to join the Manor squad, replacing the outgoing Rio Haryanto. Rio had run out of funding, and Manor's engine supply deal with Mercedes meant the German team were able to find a race seat for their young driver. Ocon completed nine races with Manor, outperforming his highly rated teammate Pascal Wehrlein. Ahead of the 2017 season, it was confirmed that Ocon would join Force India for a full season of racing, again beating Pascal Wehrlein to the seat he had been considered for.

Filed under Formula 1 drivers

Date	Title
23/11/2017	Race information - Abu Dhabi 2017
08/11/2017	Race information - Brazil 2017
26/10/2017	Race information - Mexico 2017
18/10/2017	Race information - United States 2017
04/10/2017	Race information - Japan 2017
27/09/2017	Race information - Malaysia 2017
13/09/2017	Race information - Singapore 2017
30/08/2017	Race information - Italy 2017
23/08/2017	Race information - Belgium 2017
27/07/2017	Race information - Hungary 2017

Date	Title
11/07/2017	Grosjean catches a brake break
13/06/2017	Pink panthers on the prowl
15/05/2017	Wehrlein continues his return to form
29/11/2016	Vettel best of the rest as Rosberg secures maiden title

Related news

Date	Title
12/11/2017	Bottas takes third pole position as Hamilton crashes out of Brazil qualifying
29/10/2017	Vettel snatches Mexico pole from Verstappen with Hamilton behind
07/10/2017	Hamilton scores another pole as Grosjean crashes out
18/09/2017	Sergio Pérez remains at Force India for 2018 season
03/09/2017	New championship leader as Hamilton wins from pole in Monza
02/09/2017	Hamilton on pole, as Stroll impresses in washed out Monza qualifying
27/05/2017	Kimi Räikkönen takes Monaco pole, his first since 2008
28/04/2017	Ferrari go fastest in Russia practice as many struggle for grip
26/03/2017	Sebastian Vettel takes 2017’s first race victory in Australia
22/02/2017	Mallya hits out at Renault boss and anyone who doubts Force India

Mentions during live coverage

Date	Update
29/10/2017	Three seconds up the road, Esteban Ocon is no doubt getting the news that Vettel will be approaching very soon.
29/10/2017	Esteban Ocon comes in for his one pit stop, yellow tyres going on the leading Force India. He rejoins in fifth place.
22/10/2017	Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso pit at the same time, Daniel Ricciardo moves up to sixth in the blink of an eye.
22/10/2017	Verstappen's next victim is Esteban Ocon, who looked to defend the position but ultimately allowed the Red Bull throughout relatively easily. Max now has to close down eight seconds to find Räikkönen.
22/10/2017	Esteban Ocon has made his way up to fifth place, deposing Kimi Räikkönen.
17/09/2017	Esteban Ocon puts his foot down and powers past Magnussen, who has lost two places in one lap. Ocon moves to 11th place, and has a two second gap to close to the other Haas.
17/09/2017	Distracted, Magnussen drifted back into the clutches of Massa, but then remained ahead - though Esteban Ocon took the initiative and moved ahead of the Williams as well. Lots of squeezing happening, with the walls looking closer than ever.
03/09/2017	The battle is back on between Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon, with the Force India having to display some solid defensive moves.
03/09/2017	Kimi Räikkönen takes an aggressive line to pass Esteban Ocon for sixth place. Ocon looks for the outside line at the next corner, but has to drop behind.
03/09/2017	Esteban Ocon attempts to put a car between him and Räikkönen by overtaking Vandoorne, but the Ferrari sweeps through as well. There's 15 seconds or so ahead of Ocon now, but the next car is teammate Sergio Pérez - and we know how well that always works out.

Rankings gains and losses

Date	Reason	Points
14/11/2017	Oof, that's a quick getaway!	+1
31/10/2017	Spot of football for Checo and Esteban ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix.	+1
19/09/2017	Cake!	+1
05/09/2017	What do you do if you want to play the game as yourself but you're already IN THE GAME?	+2
05/09/2017	Great karting work at Monza pre-race.	+1
24/07/2017	Definitely needs to work on his cowboy yeehaw's!	+1
18/07/2017	Great fan engagement, and winning the floating ball competition.	+1
13/07/2017	I love, love, love this cockney rhyming slang video, all the drivers make me laugh but Ocon gets points for trying to rhyme "peers" with stairs.	+1
23/06/2017	The Force India boys seem to have dealt with their fall-out from Canada really well! Where's all the childish squabbling?	+2
14/06/2017	Amazingly brave to participate in some pre-race zip-lining!	+2