EstebanOcon
EstebanOconbiography
EstebanOconwasonly 17 yearsoldwhenhe won the European Formula Threechampionshipin 2014. Yethisevenyounger F3 rival Max Verstappengained a place in Formula One more quickly, makinghisdebutwith Toro Rosso the followingseason.
Born: 17th September 1996
Birthplace: Evreux, France
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Oconhadreached F3 aftertwoseason in Formula Renault 2.0, taking a strong second in the Eurocupin 2013 by winningtwo of the final three races. WhileVerstappentook a few rounds to come good and washampered by someengineproblems, Ocon put the championshipbeyonddoubtwithrelentless points-scoring. In a 17-race periodhefinished in the top two 15 times.
AfterthatOcon made whatappeared to be a sideways move into GP3. He hadimpressed Lotus in a one-off F1 practice outing for the team at the end of 2014, but needed to keep the resultscoming to sustain the interest of the top F1 teams.
In GP3 heagainachievedremarkableconsistency, achievingnineconsecutive second place finishes in acategorywherealternate races featuredpartiallyreversedgrids. Having won nine times in F3 hemanagedjust a single victory in GP3, but 14 podiums from 18 races allowedhim to pip Luca Ghiotto to the crown in a tense finale at Yas Marina.
Meanwhileotherdevelopmentshadplayed in the French driver’sfavour. Renault werepoised to take over Lotus and wouldsurelybe on the market for a driver of Ocon’sskills and background. Howeveritwas Mercedes, stung by theirfailure to getVerstappen’sname on a contract, whomoved first.
For Oconthismeanta deal to drive in the DTM in 2016: a route few drivers hadtakendirectly to F1. But Mercedes werewilling to let Renault runhim in F1 practice sessions, whichhedid on four occasions before the summer break.
He alsohad a chance to test for Mercedes, addingyetfurther to hisexperiencewith F1 hardware. He hadalreadydriven a Ferrari F10 as a prize for his F3 victory and testedseparately for the Mercedes-powered Force India team.
Ocon’s first campaign in the DTM had, not unexpectedly, got off to a more difficultstart in the highlyspecialisedcategory. But as eventstranspiredhewould not completeit.
Rio Haryanto’sbakershadpromised Manor €15 million for his race seat but as the seasonpasseditshalfway point onlyhalf of the money had been paid. Oconwasthereforehanded the opportunity to take over and makehis F1 race debut in the Belgian Grand Prix.
A nine-race stint in the least competitive car in the fieldwas not much o fa chance to demonstratewhathewas capable of, particularlygivenhis initial discomfortwith an ill-fittingseat.
But hefaredincreasinglywellalongsidefellow Mercedes junior driver Pascal Wehrlein, and impressed in the season’smostdifficult race. Oconkepthis Manor in the points places until the final laps at a soaked Interlagos.
A spirited drive in the final race included clashes withWehrlein and Sauber’sFelipe Nasr. But Oconhadalreadydoneenough to secure a place on the grid for 2017 at Force India.