Esteban Jose Jean-Pierre Ocon-Khelfane was born on 17th September 1996 in Evreux, in the Normandy region of France. From a very early age, he lived with his father, Laurent Ocon, and his mother, Sabrine Khelfane. Ocon’s father had a garage where he worked as a mechanic.
Esteban Ocon- Early Career
1) Karting (2006–2011)
Esteban Ocon began racing karts in 2006 when he finished 8th in the French Minime Championships, which he went on to win in 2007. In 2008, he won the French Cadet Championship, continuing his winning streak from the previous year. It was the start of Ocon’s first of three seasons competing in the KF3 category of karting.
Lastly, he won the French KF3 championship in 2011 and placed 2nd in the WSK Euro Series before moving to motorsports. Later, Gravity Sports Management signed Ocon when he was 14 years old.
2) Formula Renault (2012–2014)
In 2012, Esteban Ocon raced in a single-seater for the first time in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0. He placed fourteenth overall with four points, including a podium finish at his home race in Le Castellet. Also, he competed in the Formula Renault 2.0 Alpines, where he finished seventh with two podium finishes at the Red Bull Ring.
In 2013, Esteban Ocon decided to join the ART Junior Team. During the season, he earned three podium finishes, including the victory at Le Castellet, and finished third in the standings. Ocon entered the World Series for the first time and competed in the Renault 3.5 class. Ocon scored two points at Le Castellet and Hungaroring in his first race as a Comtec Racing driver.
3) Formula Three, GP3, and DTM (2014–2015)
At the Macau Grand Prix, Esteban made his Formula 3 debut as a member of Prema Powerteam. In 2014, he entered the European Formula 3 Championship for the first time due to his collaboration with Prema. In the first race at Silverstone, he was leading, and he won the championship with one round remaining.
There was an announcement made on 11 March 2015 that Esteban Ocon would transfer to the Formula 3 European Championship. Despite winning only one race and having two victories thrown out as penalties, he won the championship.
While driving for Mercedes-Benz in the first ten races of the 2016 DTM season, Esteban Ocon was also a reserve driver for Renault F1 Sport.
Esteban Ocon – Formula One Career
For the first time, Esteban Ocon drove the Lotus E20 Formula One car on 22 October 2014. One month later, he made his Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend debut for Lotus at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in his first practice session.
In May 2015, Force India appointed Ocon to participate in a post-race test in Barcelona after Pascal Wehrlein backed out due to sickness. An announcement was made before Ocon won the GP3 title that he would join the Mercedes Junior Team. The Renault Sport F1 team announced in February 2016 that Esteban Ocon would serve as the reserve driver for the 2016 season.
1) Manor (2016)
As of 10 August 2016, Ocon was allowed to race in place of Rio Haryanto. In the Belgian Grand Prix, Ocon finished 16th, making his Formula 1 debut. Despite his best finish of 12th in a rain-soaked Brazilian Grand Prix, he dropped out of the points on the final lap.
2) Force India (2017–2018)
On 10 November 2016, Force India signed Ocon for the 2017 season. He collected his first Formula 1 point at the Australian Grand Prix during his debut with Force India. Afterward, he placed 7th at the Russian Grand Prix and maintained the points streak by finishing 5th at the Spanish Grand Prix.
At the Belgian Grand Prix, Ocon was pushed up against a wall by the other driver. Ocon, with many difficulties, was able to finish in the ninth-place position. Aside from securing a 12th place finish at the Monaco Grand Prix, Ocon earned twelve points consecutively. He recovered quickly from his collision with Pérez and finished 6th in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
In the Italian Grand Prix, Esteban Ocon started from third place after the Red Bull drivers were penalized, and he finished 6th. He spent most of the time in the third position in the Mexican Grand Prix and ended the race in fifth place. In the Brazilian Grand Prix, a collision with Romain Grosjean ended his streak of 27 finishes. At the end of his first season in Formula 1, he placed 8th in the drivers’ championship with 87 points.
Ocon stayed with Force India during 2018. At the Bahrain Grand Prix, Esteban Ocon scored his first points of the season by finishing 10th. Kimi Räikkönen caused a collision with him in the first lap at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which ended his race. A car oil leak during the Spanish Grand Prix forced him to retire from the following race.
At the Monaco Grand Prix, he finished 6th, while at the Canadian Grand Prix, he finished 9th. His French Grand Prix ended in disappointment when a collision forced him to retire on the first lap. The summer break ended with three more point finishes.
The Belgian Grand Prix marked Ocon’s career-best start, as he started 3rd and finished 6th. Esteban Ocon crashed into a wall and ended his race in Singapore after colliding with Pérez on the first lap. After finishing ninth in the next two races, Ocon failed to qualify for the United States Grand Prix due to exceeding fuel flow limitations.
Max Verstappen‘s car was damaged in the Brazilian Grand Prix after a collision with Esteban Ocon. However, both drivers were permitted to continue the race, and Esteban received a 10-sec penalty for this incident. The FIA sent both drivers a warning and ordered Ocon to withdraw from the season’s final race. At the end of the season, he secured 12th place in the driver’s championship with 49 points.
3) Esteban Ocon as Mercedes Reserve Driver (2019)
According to reports, Ocon will join Mercedes for the season 2019 as a reserve driver. Because of this, Ocon did not participate in any Grand Prix weekends in 2018. According to him, Mercedes was in discussions with him regarding the 2020 season but decided to stay with Bottas.
4) Renault (2020)
After finishing 7th at the Russian Grand Prix, Ocon retired at the Eifel Grand Prix because of hydraulics issues. He finished 8th after driving for a substantial period on medium compound tires in the Portuguese Grand Prix. At the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, his driveshaft failed, and he ended up retiring for the third time in five races. At the start of the Turkish Grand Prix, Ocon qualified seventh, but a collision with Daniel Ricciardo sent him spinning, which caused him to finish 11th place.
During the Sakhir Grand Prix, Esteban Ocon began in 11th place, but there was a collision on the first lap, and drivers made their second pit stop, which helped him move up to fifth. Ocon secured his first Formula 1 podium finish by finishing 2nd after Mercedes pit stop issues. As a result, this was the best result for Renault since 2010. His season in the drivers’ championship ended in 12th place with 62 points.
5) Alpine (2021 onwards)
From the 2021 season onwards, Renault is known as Alpine F1 Team. The team signed Fernando Alonso as a partner to Esteban Ocon. During Alpine’s first race in Bahrain, Ocon finished 13th behind Sebastian Vettel. In the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Ocon qualified ninth and finished ninth. During the Portuguese Grand Prix, Ocon qualified 6th place and finished 7th place before finishing 9th at the Spanish and Monaco Grand Prix in the following races.
This season, he retired from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for the first time due to a mechanical problem. At the French Grand Prix, he finished 14th due to deteriorating tires. He qualified 17th place for both the Austrian and Styrian Grands Prix, and after colliding with Antonio Giovinazzi on the opening lap, he retired.
Alpine would retain Ocon until 2024.