Esteban Ocon was sacked by Racing Point at the end of the 2018 season and thus became a reserve driver for Mercedes in 2019 until his move to Renault for 2020.
68 Facts About Esteban Ocon
2.
Esteban Ocon took his maiden Formula One podium at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix and maiden victory at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix.
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Esteban Ocon was born in Evreux, Normandy to Sabrine Khelfane and Laurent Ocon, a mechanic who owns a garage in Evreux.
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Besides his native French language, Esteban Ocon speaks in English, Spanish and Italian.
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Esteban Ocon entered karting in 2006, when he finished eighth in the Minime class of the French Championship.
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Esteban Ocon won the championship in 2007 and continued his success by winning the Cadet class in 2008 ahead of Anthoine Hubert and Pierre Gasly.
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Esteban Ocon then spent three years racing in the KF3 category and competed in the Spanish Championship and Italian Open Masters.
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Esteban Ocon won the French KF3 title in 2010 and finished as runner-up in the WSK Euro Series in 2011 behind Max Verstappen.
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At the age of 14, Esteban Ocon was signed by Gravity Sports management, a sister company of Renault F1 team.
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In 2012, Esteban Ocon made his debut in single-seaters, taking part in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 with Koiranen Motorsport.
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Esteban Ocon finished fourteenth with four point-scoring finishes, including being on the podium at his home round at Circuit Paul Ricard.
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Esteban Ocon 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.
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Esteban Ocon remained in the series for 2013, switching to the ART Junior Team.
14.
Esteban Ocon recorded one pole position and won two races including at Circuit Paul Ricard, finishing the season in third place behind Pierre Gasly and Oliver Rowland.
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Esteban Ocon made his debut in Formula Three machinery at the 2013 Macau Grand Prix with Prema Powerteam.
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Esteban Ocon stalled at the start of the main race but went on to finish tenth.
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Esteban Ocon continued his collaboration with Prema into the 2014 FIA Formula 3 European Championship.
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Esteban Ocon topped the standings at the first round at Silverstone Circuit and remained in the lead of the championship for the rest of the season.
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Esteban Ocon was crowned FIA Formula 3 European champion with three races remaining, ahead of Tom Blomqvist and Max Verstappen.
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Esteban Ocon finished on the podium in twenty-one of the thirty-three races, winning nine, and recorded fifteen pole positions.
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Esteban Ocon made a second appearance at the Macau Grand Prix in 2014.
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Esteban Ocon moved to the GP3 Series for 2015 with ART Grand Prix.
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Esteban Ocon recorded three pole positions and fourteen podium finishes from eighteen races.
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Esteban Ocon drove for Mercedes-Benz in the first ten races of the 2016 DTM season, alongside his Formula One reserve driver role at Renault.
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Esteban Ocon scored two points finishing ninth in the first race at Circuit Zandvoort, before he was promoted to a Formula 1 race seat.
26.
Esteban Ocon was replaced by Felix Rosenqvist following his promotion.
27.
In May 2015, Esteban 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.
28.
In February 2016, it was announced that Esteban Ocon would act as reserve driver for the Renault Sport F1 team for the 2016 season.
29.
Esteban Ocon took part in Friday practice sessions at four Grands Prix for the team.
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Esteban Ocon was named as his replacement for the second half of the season, driving alongside Pascal Wehrlein.
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Esteban Ocon made his Formula One debut at the Belgian Grand Prix, finishing sixteenth.
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Esteban Ocon earned his best result of twelfth in the rain-affected Brazilian Grand Prix, dropping out of the points positions on the final lap.
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Esteban Ocon scored his first Formula One point in his first race for Force India at the Australian Grand Prix, and scored points at the next four races including fifth place at the Spanish Grand Prix.
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Esteban Ocon later remarked that he was "furious" with Perez and that he "risked [their] lives".
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Esteban Ocon started the Italian Grand Prix in third place after the Red Bull drivers faced penalties, the highest grid position of his career.
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Esteban Ocon spent much of the Mexican Grand Prix in third place and eventually finished fifth.
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Esteban Ocon finished his first full season in Formula One eighth in the drivers' championship, scoring 87 points to Perez's 100.
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Esteban Ocon retired with an oil leak at the next race, the Spanish Grand Prix.
39.
Esteban Ocon recorded five more points finishes before the summer break, but retired from his home race, the French Grand Prix, after a first-lap collision with Pierre Gasly.
40.
At Racing Point Force India's first race, the Belgian Grand Prix, Esteban Ocon achieved the joint-highest starting position of his career with third and went on to finish sixth.
41.
Esteban Ocon was disqualified from eighth place at the United States Grand Prix after his car was found to have exceeded fuel flow limits.
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Esteban Ocon finished the season twelfth in the drivers' championship, scoring 49 points to Perez's 62.
43.
Esteban Ocon did not take part in a Grand Prix weekend during the year.
44.
Esteban Ocon 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.
45.
Esteban Ocon joined Renault for 2020, signing a two-year contract and marking his return to Formula One as a full-time driver.
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Esteban Ocon replaced Nico Hulkenberg and partnered with Daniel Ricciardo.
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Esteban Ocon was running in seventh place at the Styrian Grand Prix when he retired with a cooling issue.
48.
Esteban Ocon's brakes caught fire during a safety car period at the Tuscan Grand Prix.
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Esteban Ocon experienced further mechanical retirements at the Eifel Grand Prix and the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
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Esteban Ocon had improved to fifth place by lap 54 of 87, assisted by collisions on the opening lap and drivers making second pit stops.
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Esteban Ocon was overtaken by Sergio Perez, 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.
52.
Esteban Ocon ended the season twelfth in the drivers' championship, scoring 62 points to Ricciardo's 119.
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Esteban Ocon finished the race thirteenth and Vettel later apologised for the incident.
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Esteban Ocon was classified ninth at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix ahead of Alonso in tenth, earning the team their first points under the Alpine name.
55.
Esteban Ocon struggled with tyre wear and finished fourteenth at the French Grand Prix, qualified seventeenth for both the Styrian and Austrian Grands Prix and retired from the latter after a first-lap collision with Antonio Giovinazzi.
56.
Esteban 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.
57.
The Turkish Grand Prix took place in damp conditions and Esteban Ocon finished tenth having run the entire race distance on one set of intermediate-weather tyres.
58.
Esteban Ocon ended the season eleventh in the drivers' championship, scoring 74 points to Alonso's 81.
59.
Esteban Ocon finished seventh at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix despite receiving a penalty for colliding with Mick Schumacher.
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Esteban Ocon recovered in the race to finish ninth and was promoted to eighth when Alonso received a penalty.
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Esteban Ocon finished ninth at the Monaco Grand Prix but was demoted to twelfth by a penalty for colliding with Lewis Hamilton.
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Esteban Ocon recovered in the race to score points in seventh place.
63.
Esteban Ocon started seventeenth at the Singapore Grand Prix having experienced brake problems in qualifying and then retired from the race with an engine failure.
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Esteban Ocon was eliminated in the first qualifying session and started eighteenth at the United States Grand Prix; he finished eleventh after taking new power unit elements and starting from the pit lane.
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Esteban Ocon was involved in separate collisions with teammate Alonso in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix sprint, with the damage to his car dropping him to seventeenth place.
66.
Esteban Ocon ended the season eighth in the drivers' championship, equalling his best result previously achieved in 2017.
67.
Esteban Ocon has signed a contract to remain with Alpine until the end of the 2024 season.
68.
Esteban Ocon is set to drive alongside former karting rival Pierre Gasly for 2023 as Alonso departs to Aston Martin.