Esteban Ocon is one of the greatest talents of his generation. The young Frenchman is often mentioned in the same breath as Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Lando Norris. Early in his career, he was supported by Mercedes and a great career in Formula 1 seemed to be in the making.
The Frenchman was included at a young age in the training team of Gravity Sports, a sister company of Renault. However, it was Mercedes that struck in 2014 and included Ocon in its training program to get him ready for Formula 1. At that time, the talented driver had won the European Formula 3 championship by, among other things, dealing with Max Verstappen.
Where Verstappen immediately flew into Formula 1 via Toro Rosso, Ocon had to wait longer for his chance. After winning the GP3 title and half a season in the DTM championship, he got his chance: with the rear-guard team at Manor, he made his debut alongside Pascal Wehrlein, another Mercedes junior. However, the team died in the winter of 2016/2017, but Ocon found shelter at Force India (now Racing Point) and had the opportunity to prove itself for two seasons. With the experienced Sergio Perez as a teammate he had an excellent teacher and certainly in 2018 the Frenchman showed that he has enough talent to succeed in the top of the Formula 1. Ocon raced aggressively, dared to catch up, was also in the the press were male (sometimes by trial and error) and had visibly grown as a person.
Meanwhile, Mercedes struggled annually with the question of whether it should continue with Valtteri Bottas or whether it should choose the young Ocon. Bottas was always preferred, with a one-year contract – now like three seasons in a row. Also for 2020, Ocon was seen as a contender for the seat, but it soon became clear that Mercedes would again not give him the chance. But why would the team turn its back on the driver after all the effort and money put into Ocon’s training?
The answer is two-fold. On the one hand, with the dominant Lewis Hamilton and Bottas, Mercedes has a balanced pair of drivers, with the Finn accepting his role as second driver. Hamilton steals the headlines and the titles, and Bottas drives enough points together to give the team the constructors’ title. Never change a winning team, team boss Toto Wolff must have thought.
The second reason is the character of Ocon, who is not the easiest boy in the class. Nobody doubts his talent and speed, but his manners are sometimes less. Although the youthful, and sometimes overconfident, Ocon have also taken steps in that regard in recent years, Wolff did not dare to place him in the factory team. Main reason: expect fireworks.
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In the past Wolff had his hands full with the duo Hamilton and Nico Rosberg and is happy with the peace that Bottas brings. In addition, Hamilton has a big finger in the pie regarding the riders choice. Although he himself has always denied that, Mercedes attaches great importance to the opinion of her star driver in that regard. Wolff said the words “it wanted to protect Ocon” and it was almost impossible for him to approach the level of Hamilton directly in 2020.
The team boss made it very clear that the team interest is above the wishes of Ocon. “The importance and dreams of a driver sometimes do not match those of the team. Every driver dreams of becoming a world champion and that can create tensions,” the team boss noted. With this, Wolff indirectly puts the finger on the sore spot: Ocon is young, enthusiastic and does not shy away from the team duel, while Mercedes is looking for German solidity – it was often boring at the Silver Arrows in recent seasons, almost clinical.
The young, sometimes too eager, Ocon could upset the balance within the team. Mercedes is committed to driving to the world title in a laboratory way. The last thing it is waiting for is a 23-year-old driver who wants to push Hamilton off his throne. On the one hand understandable, on the other the death blow to the training team of Mercedes that previously said goodbye to the talented Pascal Wehrlein. The future must tell whether George Russell, housed at Williams and also referred to as future world champion, will face the same fate.
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