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Esteban Ocon
- Team Alpine
- Nation France
- Date of birth 17/09/1996
- Place of birth Evreux, France
Sometimes in F1, it's not what a driver does, it's how they do it. For years, the jury was out on whether Esteban Ocon was made of the right stuff if there was stuff of significance to win, but Hungary 2021 rendered that question irrelevant.
Given a sniff of a victory after an opening-lap crash wiped out several of the fancied runners, Ocon inherited the lead on lap five and stayed there for 65 laps, resisting the race-long pressure being piled on him by four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel. In his biggest moment, Ocon didn't flinch – and raised his stock in the process.
Ocon's career looked in strife when he was ousted by Racing Point for Lance Stroll at the end of 2018; now, with podiums on his CV and as the junior partner alongside Fernando Alonso as a Frenchman at a French team, his future looks predictable and bright.
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