Esteban Ocon

Esteban José Jean-Pierre Ocon-Khelfane (French: [ɛs.te.ban ɔ.kɔ̃]; born 17 September 1996) is a French racing driver who competes for Alpine in Formula One. He made his Formula One debut for Manor Racing in the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix, replacing Rio Haryanto. He moved to Force India in 2017, partnering Mexican driver Sergio Pérez for the 2017 and 2018 Formula 1 seasons. Ocon was a part of the Mercedes driver development programme and worked as a reserve driver for Mercedes in 2019 until his move to Renault in 2020. He took his maiden Formula One podium at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix and maiden victory at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix. He is currently racing for the BWT Alpine Formula 1 Team. Esteban Ocon was born in Évreux, Normandy to Sabrine Khelfane and Laurent Ocon, a mechanic who owns a garage in Évreux. His paternal family is originally from Málaga. While competing in karting, his parents had to sell their family home, which included his father's garage, to fund his karting career. After selling the house, they lived and travelled to races in a caravan Ocon also used as a motor home. As of 2022[update], Ocon lives in Geneva, Switzerland. Besides his native French language, Ocon also speaks in English, Spanish and Italian. Ocon entered karting in 2006, when he finished eighth in the Minime class of the French Championship. He won the championship in 2007 and continued his success by winning the Cadet class in 2008 ahead of Anthoine Hubert and Pierre Gasly. He then spent three years racing in the KF3 category and competed in the Spanish Championship and Italian Open Masters. He won the French KF3 title in 2010 and finished as runner-up in the WSK Euro Series in 2011 behind Max Verstappen.