A full year after it was confirmed he would be joining the Formula 1 grid, Esteban Ocon doubts he would be where he is had it not been for the circumstances that saw him join Manor from last year’s Belgian Grand Prix.
The Frenchman replaced Rio Haryanto at the now defunct British team from the Spa race after the Indonesian’s backers were unable to find the sufficient money for the second half of the season.
It gave life to a year that had been somewhat in limbo after winning the GP3 championship in 2015 and after beating Max Verstappen to the title in European F3 the year before.
“To be honest, I have never thought about it! Never!” he told the official F1 website when asked what he’d be doing had he not joined Manor. “I probably would have finished the DTM season with the hope of entering F1 in 2017 but it probably would not have been with Force India.
“My guess is that it would have been tough to find a cockpit as Manor stopped at the end of 2016. Gee, I don’t even want to think about it!”
Since getting his chance, however, the 20-year-old has seemingly moved ahead of Pascal Wehrlein in the Mercedes young driver academy and has had an impressive first full season scoring points in 10 of the 11 races.
“Am I really? Wow!” he responded to the idea of being a “sensation” of this season. “But the reality is more sober, you cannot plan success! We respect the targets that we set at the start of the season – which means scoring points at every race and that is pretty much what I am doing!”
After a steady start, Ocon has become more than a match for teammate Sergio Perez, leading to the pair being involved in several on-track controversies, notably in Canada and Baku where both drivers missed out on potential podiums.
Despite that, Force India still sit 60 points ahead of Williams in fourth in the Constructors’ Championship and Ocon put his own form down to a much stronger work ethic.
“I have to work very hard! I have a lot less experience than Sergio so I have to catch up on so many details that come naturally to him,” he explained. “Before and after each race I am mostly in the factory for simulator work. I think that is what makes a big difference.”
Considering how much harder he works than the Mexican, he claimed: “I don’t want to say a number – so let’s put it this way: a lot more!”
