Esteban Ocon moves to Force India for multi-year deal - Filling the space vacated by Nico Hülkenberg
Published by Christine
The Force India squad have filled their spare race seat for the 2017 season by signing Manor driver Esteban Ocon for what is a multi-year deal. Pairing the French driver with Sergio Pérez for the coming season and beyond, Force India are benefitting from their association with Mercedes, as Ocon is a young driver for the German manufacturer.
Ocon has tested for Force India before, participated in several free practice sessions for Renault, before being drafted in to the Manor team to replace Rio Haryanto since the Belgium race. Esteban says: “I’m still relatively new to F1, but spending half a season at Manor has given me some valuable experience and I feel ready for this new opportunity with Force India.”
And are the team ready for him? A definitive yes, as boss Vijay Mallya confirms: “We’ve had our eye on Esteban for a number of years and have followed his progress through the junior categories… We ran him in the car last year during testing and his performance convinced us that he is more than capable of racing alongside Sergio.”
