Esteban Ocon

Esteban Ocon makes the move to Haas for the 2025 F1 season.

After five years at Alpine, Ocon will embark on a new adventure in 2025, switching to Haas. It’s a good time for Ocon to make the move to Haas given the American outfit was consistently at the top of F1’s midfield last year.

For Ocon, it was a sour end to his time at Enstone, missing the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as part of a deal with executive advisor Flavio Briatore which allowed him to test for his new team early. Ocon remains one of the most underrated drivers on the grid, with his wet weather ability right up there with the very best.

In 2025, Ocon will have a tough job beating highly-rated rookie Oliver Bearman, who makes his full-time debut with Haas. Haas will be confident of another strong season though, as the rules are remaining stable over the winter.

Ocon was handed his F1 debut in the middle of 2016 following his GP3 Series (now Formula 3) title triumph with ART Grand Prix. Part of the Mercedes young driver programme, Ocon showed his potential with minnows Manor Racing, running in the points in a treacherous race in Brazil before finishing 12th.

His performances earned him a drive at Force India alongside Sergio Perez for 2017 and 2018. Ocon scored points in 12 consecutive races during his first year with the team, including P5 at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Despite Force India’s strong form, they were curtailed by a number of incidents between Ocon and Perez, most notably at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where the pair were in contention for the podium.

Ocon stepped up his form in 2018, out-qualifying Perez in the teammate head-to-head, but it wasn’t enough to secure his seat for the following season. Due to the team’s financial issues, the ownership changed, with Lawrence Stroll heading up the organisation.

This meant Lance Stroll would take Ocon’s place for 2019, leaving him on the sidelines. Ocon hoped that Mercedes would give him a promotion alongside Lewis Hamilton, given Bottas failed to register a win in 2018, but the Frenchman became their reserve driver.

Ocon returned to F1 in 2020 with Renault but struggled alongside Daniel Ricciardo. Still, he took his maiden F1 podium finish at the Sakhir Grand Prix.

He became an F1 Grand Prix winner at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix, seeing off Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel in a chaotic race. Alongside Fernando Alonso, Ocon proved to be a close match, enhancing his reputation.

Ocon managed to outscore Alonso in terms of points in 2022, even if the Spaniard was plagued by reliability. The 28-year-old’s best F1 weekend came at the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix as he challenged for pole position for Alpine.

He converted his strong qualifying position into his third career podium finish, helping them secure fifth in the constructors’ championship. Ocon added another rostrum appearance to his CV with an incredible drive in the wet at the Sao Paulo GP in 2024.