Esteban Ocon

Esteban José Jean-Pierre Ocon-Khelfane (born 17 September 1996) is a French racing driver who competes for Alpine in Formula One. 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 driver development programme until his move to Renault. He took his maiden Formula One victory at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Esteban Ocon was born in Évreux, Normandy to Sabrine Khelfane and Laurent Ocon, a mechanic who owns a garage in Évreux. He is of Algerian and Spanish descent and his paternal family is originally from Málaga. While competing in karting, his parents had to sell their family home, which included his father's garage, to fund his karting career. After selling the house, they lived and travelled to races in a caravan which Ocon also used as a motor home.

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 (two other victories were denied due to penalties) 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.

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 Mercedes Junior Team. In February 2016, it was announced that Ocon would also act as reserve driver for the Renault Sport F1 team for the 2016 season. He took part in Friday practice sessions at four Grands Prix 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 Belgian Grand Prix, finishing 16th. He earned his best result of 12th in the rain-affected Brazilian Grand Prix, dropping out of the points positions on the final lap.

Force India (2017–2018)

2017

On 10 November 2016, Force India announced that they had signed Ocon for the 2017 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 at the Australian Grand Prix. He finished 10th in the first three races of the season. He then finished seventh at the Russian Grand Prix and continued the points streak with fifth place at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Following a 12th place finish at the Monaco Grand Prix, Ocon recorded twelve consecutive points finishes but was often involved in incidents with teammate Pérez. At the Canadian Grand Prix, Pérez ignored requests from the team to let Ocon past to challenge Daniel Ricciardo for third place, and Pérez and Ocon eventually finished fifth and sixth respectively. The two drivers collided at the following Azerbaijan Grand Prix, forcing Pérez into retirement and giving Ocon a puncture. Ocon eventually recovered to finish sixth. They made contact again at the Belgian Grand Prix, where Ocon was squeezed towards a wall leading up to the Eau Rouge complex. The collision ended Pérez's race and Ocon went on to finish ninth. Ocon later remarked that he was "furious" with Pérez and that he "risked [their] lives". Force India team owner Vijay Mallya stated that the repeated incidents were "very concerning" and that he would enforce team orders thereon.

Ocon started the Italian Grand Prix in third place after the Red Bull drivers faced penalties, the highest grid position of his career. He went on to finish the race sixth. He spent much of the Mexican Grand Prix in third place and eventually finished fifth. His streak of finishing 27 consecutive races ended at the Brazilian Grand Prix, where he collided with Romain Grosjean on the first lap. He finished his first full season in Formula One eighth in the drivers' championship, having scored 87 points.

2018

Ocon continued alongside Pérez at Force India in 2018. Ocon's first points of the season came with a 10th-place finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix. At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, 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, the Spanish Grand Prix. He recorded sixth and ninth-place finishes at the Monaco and Canadian Grands Prix respectively, but then retired from the French Grand Prix after a first-lap collision. Three more points finishes followed before the summer break.

After the Hungarian Grand Prix, Force India was in severe financial trouble and faced liquidation by HM Revenue and Customs. 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. The new owners confirmed that Ocon and Pérez would remain with the team for the rest of the season. It was later revealed that Ocon had an "informal agreement" to join Renault for 2019 before the team unexpectedly signed Daniel Ricciardo, leaving Ocon's future in doubt.

At Racing Point Force India's first race, the Belgian Grand Prix, Ocon achieved the joint-highest starting position of his career with third and went on to finish sixth. Ocon and Pérez collided on the first lap of the Singapore Grand Prix, causing Ocon to crash into a wall and end his race. The team described the collision as "unacceptable" and banned the drivers from racing each other. Pérez later apologised for his role in the accident. Two ninth places followed, before Ocon was disqualified from eighth place at the United States Grand Prix after his car was found to have exceeded fuel flow limits. At the Brazilian Grand Prix, Ocon collided with race leader Max Verstappen whilst attempting to un-lap 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 (in which Verstappen finished second) and pushed each other several times. Both drivers were summoned by the FIA and Verstappen was ordered to undertake two days of public service "at the discretion of the FIA" for making deliberate physical contact with Ocon. Ocon retired from the next and final race of the season. He finished 12th in the drivers' 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 2019 after it became clear that he would be replaced at Racing Point by Lance Stroll—an outcome that was confirmed a week later. Ocon did not take part in a Grand Prix weekend during the year. He claimed to have been in discussions with Mercedes for the 2020 season, remarking that he was "very close" to replacing Valtteri Bottas at the team. Mercedes ultimately decided to continue with Bottas.

Renault (2020)

Ocon joined Renault for 2020, signing a two-year contract and marking his return to Formula One as a full-time driver. He replaced Nico Hülkenberg and partnered with Daniel Ricciardo. Ocon qualified 14th on his Renault debut at the Austrian Grand Prix and finished eighth out of eleven finishers. He qualified fifth for the Styrian Grand Prix and was running in seventh place when he retired with a cooling issue. Ocon finished sixth at the British Grand Prix, having gained positions in the closing laps when cars ahead suffered tyre failures. At the following weekend's 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, he was issued a grid penalty after impeding George Russell in qualifying and started 14th, but improved to finish eighth in the race. His best race finish since 2017 came at the Belgian Grand Prix, where he qualified sixth and finished fifth behind teammate Ricciardo.

Ocon's brakes caught fire during a safety car period at the Tuscan Grand Prix. The team was unable to repair the damage during the red flag period which occurred soon after, and Ocon failed to make the restart. A seventh-place finish followed in Russian Grand Prix, followed by retirement at the Eifel Grand Prix with a hydraulics problem. A long stint on medium-compound tyres at the Portuguese Grand Prix produced an eighth-place finish, but a driveshaft failure ended his race at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, his third retirement in five races. He qualified seventh for the Turkish Grand Prix and made his way into third place by the first corner where he and Ricciardo collided, sending Ocon into a spin. He was relegated to the back on the same lap when he was again spun around by Valtteri Bottas. Ocon went on to finish outside the points in 11th place.

He started 11th at the Sakhir Grand Prix. He had improved to fifth place by lap 54 of 87, assisted by collisions on the opening lap and drivers making second pit stops. A virtual safety car (VSC) period followed, which third-placed Carlos Sainz Jr. and fourth-placed Ricciardo attempted to take advantage of by entering the pits. However, the VSC period ended whilst they were in the pit lane, nullifying their advantage and promoting Ocon to third place. He was soon overtaken by Sergio Pérez, however pit stop issues for the leading Mercedes cars allowed Ocon to claim his first Formula One podium by finishing second, Renault's best race result since 2010. He ended the season 12th in the drivers' championship with 62 points.

Alpine (2021 onwards)

Renault rebranded as Alpine F1 Team for the 2021 season. The team signed two-time world champion Fernando Alonso to partner Ocon after Daniel Ricciardo left for McLaren. In the team's first race as Alpine, the Bahrain Grand Prix, Ocon was rear-ended by Sebastian Vettel in the Aston Martin. Ocon finished the race 13th and Vettel later apologised for the incident. Ocon qualified ninth for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and was classified ninth in the race ahead of Alonso in tenth, earning the team their first points under the Alpine name. This began a run of points finishes; Ocon qualified sixth and finished seventh at the Portuguese Grand Prix before recording two ninth-place finishes at the Spanish and Monaco Grands Prix. His first retirement of the season came at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with a turbocharger failure.

He encountered issues at the following races – he struggled with tyre wear and finished 14th at the French Grand Prix, qualified 17th for both the Styrian and Austrian Grands Prix and retired from the latter after a first-lap collision with Antonio Giovinazzi.

Ocon started eighth at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Multiple collisions ahead saw him promoted to second place at the first corner, which became first place when race leader Lewis Hamilton pitted for dry-weather tyres one lap later than the rest of the field. Ocon held on to the lead for the remainder of the race, fending off Sebastian Vettel to take his and Alpine's maiden Formula One victory.

Ocon has signed a contract with Alpine to remain with the team until the end of the 2024 season.

Racing career summary

* Season still in progress.

Complete Macau Grand Prix results

Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete GP3 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicates fastest lap)

Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.
* Season still in progress.

Formula One records

Ocon holds the following Formula One record: