Esteban Ocon: His Journey Through Hardship to Formula 1

Last year Renault F1 announced that Esteban Ocon will be partnering with Daniel Ricciardo in 2020. Thus concluding Esteban’s relationship with the Mercedes-AMG F1 team. After Lawrence Stroll took over Force India in 2018. The team dropped Ocon despite his promising performances.

He has seen a lot of ups and downs in his career. And despite his stellar performances on the track, he was often overlooked for an F1 seat.

Ocon started his single-seater career at the age of 14, driving in Formula Renault. After winning the karting french KF3 title. He scored a podium finish in his 1st year at his home race. Subsequently, he made his F3 debut in 2014. And stood at the top of the table with one race to spare. Next year he repeated the fate in GP3 with ART Grand Prix. Despite his performances, he was overlooked for an F1 seat and drove in DTM for the 2016 season.

Esteban Ocon in Formula 1

In mid-2016, Ocon finally got into F1 with Manor racing. Courtesy of Mercedes-AMG F1 team. He did his full season with Force India the next year. During his time in Force India, he consistently outperformed his teammate Sergio Perez in qualifying. After the team’s takeover by Lawrence Stroll, it became clear that Ocon will be dropped the next season making room for Lance.

Ocon spends the next year as a Mercedes F1 reserve driver, in hopes that he will get the seat in 2020. But after Bottas was confirmed for 2020, it became clear that Ocon’s career at Mercedes won’t be fruitfull anytime soon. Additionally, Mercedes failed to find a seat for Ocon in 2019. In the wake of Ocon’s dissatisfaction with the team. He was signed by Renault F1 for the 2020 season.

Esteban Ocon’s revelation about his struggles

Ocon talked about his tough childhood in an episode of Drive to Survive season 1. He stated that while growing up his family didn’t have a lot of money. And to fulfill his F1 dream, they lived in a caravan. Driving from race to race.

Esteban Ocon faced a lot of hardships in his early days. And a drive with Renault F1 is his chance to cement his place in the current F1 grid. The team has high expectations from the driver. But the thing to see is how he fares in comparison to the crowd favorite Daniel Ricciardo.