Ocon is back where he belongs: "Days on Enstone were crucial"

After a gap year in Formula 1, Esteban Ocon is back in the upper echelon of motorsport, with the Renault team. The Frenchman is happy that he ended up with the team from his homeland.

In many sports the rule is that you have to start early to reach the top and that is also the case in Formula 1. For example, Esteban Ocon fell in love with motorsport when he was four years old. "It all started with a holiday in France. I was with my parents at a complex where you could go jet-skiing, paintballing and karting. I know there was a small job and my dad asked if I wanted to try it. I sat down in it and no one could stop me", the Frenchman says in a column on Formula1.com.

The little Ocon eventually had to be taken out of the kart by his father and later that year he got his own kart for Christmas. "Of course, we soon started racing. I don't have that old kart anymore, because my dad had to sell everything to buy the next kart."

Crucial days on Enstone

Due to strong results in his early years, Ocon was included in the training programme of Lotus, the team that was later taken over by Renault. The days at Enstone were very special for the driver. "I was taught how everything works in Formula 1, how to be prepared. It was the moment I went from a child to a young adult and those years at Enstone have made me the person I am now. Those days were so crucial."

After walking around Mercedes for a while Esteban Ocon is back on the old nest in 2020, at Renault. "I'm very happy it turned out this way in the end, racing for the Enstone-based team of Renault. It feels right and I believe this kind of thing happens for a reason." For the Frenchman, it is to be hoped that the team will get through this difficult period, as the parent company is said to be in serious financial difficulties.