Esteban Ocon or Esteban José Jean-Pierre Ocon-Khelfane is a noble French driver who is currently driving for Alpine Formula 1 team alongside Pierre Gasly in 2023, formerly driver alongside Fernando Alonso in 2021 and 2022. Esteban was born on 17 September 1996 in Évreux, Normandy. Esteban Ocon height measures at 6ft 1in, which makes him one of the tallest driver on the grid.
Esteban Ocon has previously driven for Manor, Force India, Renault and Alpine in Formula 1. Ocon was a part of the Mercedes Driver Development Programme and worked as a reserve driver for Mercedes in 2019. At the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, he earned his first Formula 1 podium, and at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix, he won for the first time.
Junior Racing career
Karting
When Esteban first started karting, he placed eight in the Minime class of the French Championship in 2006. He won the title in 2007 and maintained his dominance by defeating Anthoine Hubert and Pierre Gasly to win the Cadet class in 2008. After that, he spent three years racing in the KF3 division and participated in the Italian Open Masters and Spanish Championship. He was in second place to Max Verstappen in the WSK Euro Series in 2011 after winning the French KF3 championship in 2010. He also won Trofeo Grifone, Championnat de France and Grand Prix Open Karting in the same year.
Ocon was signed by Gravity Sports management, a subsidiary of the Renault F1 team, at the age of 14.
Formula Renalt
Ocon made his single-seater racing debut in 2012 by competing in the Euro-cup Formula Renault 2.0. He earned four points throughout his fourteenth-place finish, including a podium finish at his home race at Circuit Paul Ricard. Together with Koiranen, he also competed in a portion of the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps season, finishing ninth with two podium finishes, both of which occurred at the Red Bull Ring.
He switched to the ART Junior Team in 2013 and continued in the series.
He finished the season in third place behind Pierre Gasly and Oliver Rowland, recording one pole position and two victories, one of which was at Circuit Paul Ricard.
A race win at the Hockenheim ring and two other podium finishes were the results of a partial campaign in the Northern European Cup.
Formula 3
At the 2013 Macau Grand Prix, Ocon made his Formula Three racing debut with Prema Powerteam. Throughout the 2014 FIA Formula 3 European Championship, he kept working with Prema. He took first place in the standings at the opening race at Silverstone Circuit and held that position for the remainder of the season. He made a brief outing in the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 Series with two rounds left. With three races left, Ocon defeated Max Verstappen and Tom Blomqvist to win the Formula 3 European Championship. In twenty-one of the thirty-three races, he came in third, won nine, and earned fifteen pole positions. 2014 saw Ocon participate in the Macau Grand Prix once more.
GP3
For 2015, Ocon switched to the GP3 Series with ART Grand Prix. He only won one race, and two more were overturned by penalties, but he still defeated Luca Ghiotto by eight points to claim the championship. In 18 races, Ocon won three pole positions, finished on the podium 14 times, including 9 times in a row in second.
DTM
In addition to his Formula One reserve driver position at Renault, Ocon participated in the first ten races of the 2016 DTM season as a Mercedes-Benz driver. His ninth-place performance in the opening race at Circuit Zandvoort earned him two points, and he was later upgraded to a Formula 1 race seat. Felix Rosenqvist took his spot after being promoted.
Formula 1 career
Manor (2016)
2016, Due to his sponsors’ breach of contract, Rio Haryanto was fired from the Manor Racing team. Ocon was chosen to drive alongside Pascal Wehrlein for the remainder of the season in his place. At the Belgian Grand Prix, Ocon made his Formula 1 debut and placed sixteenth. In the wet Brazilian Grand Prix, where he finished twelfth and dropped out of the points on the last lap, he achieved his best finish.
Force India (2017 - 2018)
2017, As part of his multi-year deal with Mercedes, Ocon signed a contract with Force India for the 2017 season, joining Sergio Pérez as his new teammate. Ocon picked up his first Formula One point in the Australian Grand Prix, his debut for Force India, and continued to pick up points in the following four races, including a fifth-place finish at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Despite a twelfth place finish at Monaco, Ocon was successful in scoring points in the next our races. Esteban and Perez were seen crashing into each other a number of times in the season which were concerning for the team. He wrapped his first season in Formula 1 season at P8 in the drivers’ championship, scoring 87 points to Perez’s 100.
2018, was a bit of a poor season for Esteban Ocon due to his failure to score points and crashes leading to retirements. His first points of the season came at Bahrain GP where he finished at tenth.
In an attempt to unlap himself at the Brazilian Grand Prix, he ran into race leader Max Verstappen, causing damage to both cars. Both competitors were permitted to resume their respective races, and Ocon was assessed a ten-second stop-and-go penalty for the collision. Following the race, they got into a fight and repeatedly shoved one another. The FIA called both drivers, who were then penalized appropriately.
Ocon finished the season P12 in the drivers’ championship, scoring 49 points.
Mercedes Reserve Driver (2019)
2019, After it became evident that he would be replaced at Racing Point by team owner Lawrence Stroll’s son Lance Stroll, an event that was confirmed a week later, Ocon made the decision to join Mercedes as their reserve driver for 2019. Throughout the year, Ocon skipped every Grand Prix weekend. He stated that he was “extremely close” to replacing Valtteri Bottas at the team and claimed to have been in talks with Mercedes for the 2020 season. Mercedes finally made the decision to keep Bottas.
Renault (2020)
2020, Ocon returned to Formula 1 in 2020 after joining Renault. He teamed up with Daniel Ricciardo in Nico Hulkenberg’s place. Ocon placed seventh after starting fourteenth in his first race with Renault in Austria. At the Belgian Grand Prix, when he qualified sixth and finished fifth behind teammate Daniel Ricciardo, he recorded his highest performance result since 2017.
Ocon commenced the Sakhir GP in position eleven. By lap 54 of 87, he had advanced to fifth place thanks to crashes. Following a virtual safety car period, Carlos Sainz Jr., who finished third, took the lead. Ocon’s second-place performance, the best for Renault since 2010, was made possible by pit stop troubles for the leading Mercedes cars, which enabled him to secure his maiden Formula 1 podium.
He ended the season P12 in the drivers’ championship, scoring 62 points to Ricciardo’s 119.
Alpine (2021 - present)
2021, After Daniel Ricciardo moved for McLaren, the team decided to pair Ocon with two-time world champion Fernando Alonso. Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin rear-ended Esteban Ocon in the Bahrain Grand Prix, the team’s maiden race as Alpine. Ocon came in thirteenth place overall. At the Emilia Romagna, Ocon finished ninth, giving the team their first points under the Alpine name. His maiden season-opening retirement occurred at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix due to a turbocharger issue.
On the grid for the Hungarian Grand Prix, Esteban Ocon was seventh. At the first corner, he was moved up to second due to several crashes in front of him. When race leader Lewis Hamilton made his pit stop for dry-weather tyres one lap later than the rest of the field, he moved into first place. Sebastian Vettel was able to be held at bay for the duration of the race by Ocon, who also secured Alpine’s first-ever Formula One victory.
Following a fifth-place finish at the Qatar Grand Prix, Ocon finished in third place for the majority of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix before being overhauled by Valtteri Bottas just before the finish line. Ocon finished 0.102 seconds behind Bottas. Ocon briefly led the race at the first restart. Ocon finished the season in P10 in the drivers’ standings with 74 points.
2022, Ocon and Alonso were kept by Alpine for the 2022 campaign. Ocon competed in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix despite being penalized for a collision with Mick Schumacher, finishing seventh. He had a good season as he finished within points in almost all races except four and included only two retirements at British GP and Singapore GP.
He finished his season at overall P8 with 92 points ahead of his teammate Fernando Alonso.
2023, Ocon has a contract with Alpine that runs until the 2024 season. In 2023, he will share the driving with his former karting opponent Pierre Gasly while Alonso switches to Aston Martin.
Personal Life
Sabrine Khelfane and Laurent Ocon, a mechanic who operates a garage in Évreux, Normandy, are the parents of Esteban Ocon. His parents had to sell their house, which contained his father’s garage, in order to pay for his racing career. After selling the home, they moved into a caravan that Ocon also utilized as a motor home and traveled to races with it. Ocon resides in Geneva, Switzerland, as of 2022. Ocon is fluent in French, English, Spanish, and Italian in addition to his native tongue.
Esteban Ocon girlfriend
Esteban Ocon girlfriend Elena Berri is a Turin-born Italian model. Since 2018, she has been dating Esteban Ocon. Following their attendance at a red carpet event together in September 2018, the couple announced their relationship to the world. Elena is a linguist who is fluent in several languages, including English, French, and Spanish.
Elena is a Business Management student in Geneva. Berri previously attended school in Paris. Esteban and the Italian influencer have frequently been seen together in the paddock. They both take pleasure in each other’s presence.
Net Worth
Nothing in Ocon’s motorsport career has been simple, but he’s managed to come back to the F1 grid and finish on top thanks to a combination of self-belief, tenacity, and talent on par with the greatest.
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