Ocon out-qualified Pérez 17–4 in 2018, but the Mexican proved more consistent when it mattered on Sunday. Ocon scored four sixth-place finishes on the way to 12th overall and starred in Belgium, qualifying third and challenging for the lead on the opening lap. In Brazil, by contrast, he collided with perennial rival Verstappen while trying to unlap himself from the race leader, an incident that cost the Dutchman victory and prompted a post-race scuffle.
Mercedes reserve driver and a return with Renault
However, Daniel Ricciardo’s move to Renault and Lawrence Stroll’s takeover of Force India had already left Ocon without a Formula 1 drive for 2019. Instead, he spent the season as Mercedes-Benz reserve driver before replacing Nico Hülkenberg in Renault’s race team for 2020.
Ocon was largely shaded by team-mate Ricciardo that year, but he did score his maiden podium. A clean drive in Sakhir, while many others made mistakes all around, earned him second place in the desert and gave him a solid platform to build on alongside Fernando Alonso in 2021.
Formula 1 race winner and renewed faith
Ocon was a close match for the two-time world champion in 2021, and the pair were narrowly separated in qualifying and race pace through the first half of the season. Alpine were quick to recognise his talent, offering him a three-year contract extension that would keep him with the Renault-owned team until 2024. A disappointing home grand prix soon had the doubters questioning his potential, but it was Ocon who capitalised when the top teams had an off day at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
A pre-race shower meant the race started wet, and a first-lap pile-up involving several top names brought out the red flags. By the restart the track was dry enough for slicks. The entire field pitted at the end of the formation lap, leaving pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton alone on the grid on intermediates. That glaring strategy error handed Ocon the lead, and he held off Sebastian Vettel while team-mate Alonso held up the recovering Hamilton. Ocon took his maiden win and added another 13 points finishes over the season. He ended the year 11th in the standings, just seven points behind his illustrious team-mate.
2022 brought more heated exchanges between Ocon and Alonso, and their relationship came under further strain as the season progressed. With new technical regulations in place, Alpine found good race pace and eventually beat McLaren to fourth in the constructors’ standings. Ocon was consistent throughout, finishing outside the top ten only four times, and ended the year eighth in the drivers’ standings, ahead of Alonso.
In 2023, Alonso left for Aston Martin and Ocon gained a new team-mate: fierce junior career rival Pierre Gasly.
Despite their heated history, the pair insisted the past was behind them ahead of their first season as F1 team-mates. They were closely matched in 2023, with Ocon scoring just four points fewer than Gasly, and he produced some moments of magic: a podium in Monaco and fourth place in Las Vegas.
2024 told a very different story. Alpine arrived at the opening round in Bahrain with arguably the slowest car on the grid, and points-scoring opportunities were few and far between for most of the campaign. Tensions were also high in the Enstone camp and seemed to reach breaking point in Monte Carlo. There, Ocon tried to slide down the inside of Gasly on the opening lap but made contact, launching his own Alpine into the air and out of the race.
Days later, Ocon announced he would leave the team at the end of the season, and he later secured a drive with Haas for 2025. Although most of his final performances for Alpine were underwhelming, second place in Brazil went a long way towards the team securing sixth in the constructors’ standings.
His Alpine chapter ended on a sour note, however. The partnership was brought to a close before the season finale in Abu Dhabi, so Ocon never got to make one last appearance for the team.
Ocon’s first season with Haas in 2025 proved a frustrating one. He managed a season-best fifth in China and ended the year with 38 points. Even so, he was overshadowed by rookie team-mate Oliver Bearman, who outscored him and grew increasingly impressive as the season wore on.
The late-season contrast was especially stark. After the summer break Ocon scored only 11 points to Bearman’s 33, and over the final 20 events he was out-qualified 15–5 by his younger team-mate. That left his first year with Haas feeling underwhelming, despite flashes of his established quality.
The 2026 regulation reset should have been a clean slate, but the old pattern returned almost immediately. Haas started the new era on the front foot and Bearman made the most of it, taking 17 points from the opening four rounds while Ocon’s only score was a single point for tenth at Suzuka.
Team boss Ayao Komatsu had already said publicly that nobody at the team was satisfied with Ocon’s 2025, and the scrutiny only grew from there. Ninth in Monaco from 17th on the grid, was a rare highlight – and it was followed by eight straight races without points.
An eighth in Baku seemed promising and marked Ocon’s best result of the season, but it wasn’t enough: in September Ocon confirmed he would leave at the end of the year, with Ferrari junior Rafael Camara the favourite to replace him. Ocon insisted it was “absolutely not the end” of his Formula 1 career, though the options for 2027 look like a reserve role at best.
