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Esteban Ocon has had a rollercoaster of a ride in motorsports. After making an impressive debut with Force India, the Frenchman was swiftly out of a ride at the end of the 2018 season as Lawrence Stroll bought the team and placed his son Lance in Ocon's seat.
In the latest episode of the Beyond The Grid podcast, the 25-year-old talked about how the 2019 season was very hard on him as a driver as he went through a lot during that period.
Reflecting on the period, Ocon said:
“It was definitely tough and I had some very low moments mentally. I will remember that one from Australia. I got there at the first race in 2019, and we were supposed to have quite a big test programme; I was supposed to drive the car quite a bit, and when I got to Australia, I got told I was not going to drive the car for the next six months.”
He went on to add, saying:
“That was quite a big hit and I remember leaving the Melbourne track, going to the rental car, and I cried in the parking lot. So it was definitely a lot of low moments… I don’t have much problem to sleep, but I remember that night, that was not the best sleep.”
Mercedes took great care of me: Esteban Ocon
Speaking about that year out of the sport, Esteban Ocon was very thankful to Mercedes, where he worked as a reserve driver. He also admitted how there were times when Toto Wolff, of all people, used to tell him that he would be driving an F1 car next season and he would not believe him.
Ocon said:
“I was very well looked after by James Vowles, by Toto [Wolff], by Gwen Lagrue, you know. They were looking after me and trying to find solutions. Toto was quite clear and he said: You will drive in 2020. And I said: How can you be so sure Toto? And he said: You will see… I didn’t want to believe him because I didn’t want to be disappointed, but it’s been quite a few times that when he spoke about something, it actually happened. And it did happen again. I got a drive in 2020 – not in Mercedes but in Renault – and that was the start of something new for me.”
Since moving to Alpine, Esteban Ocon has delivered the team a podium and a win in Hungary. Sometimes the sport can be cruel, but when it delivers, it delivers in a big way as well.
