Esteban Ocon

Ocon entered karting in 2006, when he finished eighth in the French Minime Championship,[5] subsequently winning the championship in the following year.[6] His success continued in 2008, as he won the French Cadet Championship.[7] 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.[8]

At the age of 14, Ocon was signed by Gravity Sports management, a sister company of Renault F1 team.[9]

In 2012, Ocon made his debut in single-seaters, taking part in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 with Koiranen Motorsport.[10] He finished fourteenth with four point-scoring finishes, including being on the podium at his home round at Le Castellet.[8] He also contested a partial campaign in the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps with Koiranen,[11] 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.[12] He took three podiums, as well as his first victory at Le Castellet, and finished the season in third.[13]

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.[14]

Esteban Ocon in F3 – Hockenheimring 2014

Ocon made his Formula Three debut at the Macau Grand Prix, racing for Prema Powerteam.[15] In 2014 he expanded his collaboration with Prema into the FIA European Formula Three Championship.[16] He was on top of the standings since the first round at Silverstone and won the championship with a round to spare.[17]

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 driving for Manor at the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix.

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.[22][23] Ocon made his Formula One debut at the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix, finishing 16th. He earned his best result of 12th in the chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix, dropping out of the points on the final lap.

Ocon driving for Force India at the 2017 Chinese Grand Prix

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.[24] Ocon scored his first Formula One point in his first race for Force India in Australia.[25] He finished 10th in the first three races of the season. He then finished 7th at the Russian GP, and continued the points streak with a 5th place at the Spanish GP. He stood at 8th in the drivers' championship following the Austrian Grand Prix. Following that, he recorded 8th place in front of his teammate. He followed up with 9th in Hungary. In Belgium, Ocon was involved in a controversial collision with teammate Pérez, ending Pérez's race. His streak of finishing 27 consecutive races ended at the Brazilian Grand Prix where he had an accident with Romain Grosjean after they collided on the first lap of the race. He finished his first full season with 87 points and 8th in the championship after an 8th-place finish in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Ocon at the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix

Ocon continued alongside Pérez at Force India for 2018, in a season that saw numerous incidents between the two teammates. Ocon's first points of the season came with a 10th-place finish in Bahrain. In Azerbaijan, 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 in Spain. He then recorded 6th and 9th place finishes in Monaco and Canada respectively, but then retired from his home race in France after a first-lap collision. Three more points finishes followed before the summer break.

By the summer break, Force India was in severe financial trouble and faced a winding-up order from HMRC. 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. Some suspected that Lance Stroll would now soon join Racing Point Force India, replacing Ocon due to Pérez's role in saving the team. However, the new team confirmed that Ocon and Pérez would continue with them for the rest of the season. It was later revealed that Ocon had an "informal agreement" to join Renault for 2019 before the team made a shock signing in Daniel Ricciardo, now leaving Ocon's future in doubt.[26]

At the new team's first race in Belgium, Ocon produced excellent drives to qualify 3rd and finish 6th, the best starting position of his career. Another 6th place followed in Italy. In Singapore, Ocon and Pérez collided on the first lap, causing Ocon to crash into a wall and ending his race. The team described the collision as "unacceptable" and banned the drivers from racing each other. Pérez apologised for his role in the accident.[27] Two 9th places followed, before Ocon was disqualified from 8th place at the United States Grand Prix after his car was found to have exceeded fuel flow limits.

At the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix, Ocon hit race leader Max Verstappen while trying to unlap himself, damaging both cars. Both drivers were able to continue racing,[28] and Ocon received a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for the incident.[29] They argued just after the race (which Verstappen finished in second place) and Verstappen and Ocon pushed each other several times.[30] Both drivers were summoned by the FIA and Verstappen was given two days of public service "at the discretion of the FIA" for making deliberate physical contact with Ocon.[31]

Ocon finished the season in 12th place in the championship with 49 points.

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 finally confirmed a week later.[32][33] Ocon would not take part in a Grand Prix weekend during the year. He was a contender to take the second Mercedes seat alongside Lewis Hamilton in 2020, however the team decided to continue with Valtteri Bottas.

Ocon raced for Renault starting in 2020, on a two-year contract. His Renault debut marked his return to Formula One as a full-time driver. He replaced Nico Hülkenberg, and partnered with Daniel Ricciardo.[34]

In his first race with the team, the Austrian Grand Prix, he qualified 14th, but finished 8th after 6 retirements ahead of him. At the following round, the Styrian Grand Prix, he qualified 5th, but lost a position to Alexander Albon at the start. He was later overtaken by Ricciardo for 7th. However, he retired on lap 26 due to a problem. At the Hungarian Grand Prix, he qualified 14th and finished in the same position. At the British Grand Prix he qualified in the top 10 and finished in 6th after the cars of Carlos Sainz and Valtteri Bottas suffered punctures. At the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix he qualified 12th, but, Ocon received a 3 place-grid penalty for impeding George Russell. He started 15th and finished 8th. At the Spanish Grand Prix, he qualified 14th and finished 13th. For the Belgian Grand Prix, it was a very emotional weekend for him, as the previous year he suffered the death of his friend Anthoine Hubert at the circuit. He qualified 6th and finished 5th just behind Ricciardo. At the Italian Grand Prix, he was running with an alternative strategy after starting 12th but finished 8th after red flags were shown on lap 26 due to an accident involving Charles Leclerc. At the Tuscan Grand Prix, he made it to Q3, but did not set a time due to a spin. In the race, he retired on lap 7 due to a brake problem. At the Russian Grand Prix he finished 7th after qualifying 9th. At the Eifel Grand Prix, he qualified 6th, but retired on lap 22 due to a hydraulics problem. At the Portuguese Grand Prix he started 8th and finished 9th. In the next race, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix he qualified 11th, but retired on lap 29 due to a clutch problem. At the Turkish Grand Prix he qualified 7th in wet qualifying, but after a small contact at the start with Lewis Hamilton, a spin and a puncture, he finished 11th. At the Bahrain Grand Prix, he qualified 7th, and finished 9th. During an interview, he stated that an incident on the first lap, involving Romain Grosjean was really shocking and scary. At the next race, the Sakhir Grand Prix he qualified 11th, but due to a good strategy, and Mercedes' problems with pit-stops, he finished 2nd, scoring first Formula One podium, 10 seconds behind his former teammate Sergio Pérez. At the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix he qualified 11th, and finished 9th after passing Lance Stroll on the final lap.

Renault rebranded as Alpine F1 Team in 2021, with Ocon being partnered by Fernando Alonso, as Daniel Ricciardo moved to McLaren.[35][36]

* Season still in progress.

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

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

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

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

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

* Season still in progress.

Ocon holds the following Formula One records: