Unlike most F1 drivers of today, Esteban Ocon comes from a family that could not comfortably support his racing dreams. With a weak financial background consistently haunting them, Ocon’s parents had to undergo terrible hardships to help their son make it to the pinnacle of motorsports. Speaking to the hosts of the YouTube podcast ‘High Performance,’ Ocon revealed how they even sold their house to make ends meet.
Ocon‘s father was a mechanic and owned a garage that was a part of their house. He would repair the cars that customers would bring in. Additionally, he also fixed and sold older cars to make some extra cash. Meanwhile, Ocon’s mother helped her husband run the place. She was in charge of doing all of the necessary paperwork to keep the place running. It was just the two of them that ran the place, and when the going got tough, they had to sell it all.
“There were only the two of them and they stopped doing that. They sold the garage, sold the house.”
Having entered the higher stages of motorsports, another setback hit Ocon. He beat Max Verstappen for the Formula 3 title, but the Dutchman got an F1 seat while Ocon went on to compete in the GP3 championship. It broke Ocon’s morale, and there even came a time when he thought of leaving racing altogether.
Esteban Ocon and his parents had a unique way to level the playing field
In his childhood days, Ocon was racing as an individual participant. Meanwhile, most other kids were racing for Race or Factory teams. They had mechanics and a choice of engines to help their cause. Meanwhile, Ocon only had a used chassis and two used engines that his parents chose. Things were so tough for Ocon that his parents had to scour through other drivers’ bins to look for warm and lightly used tires. They would then use these tires for Ocon to perform his testing laps. When racing began, all drivers would use the same equipment, hence bringing Ocon on level terms with them.
Time and time again, Ocon proved his skills, but luck would not side with him. Eventually, Toto Wolff entered the picture and became Ocon’s guardian angel. Ocon would consistently call Wolff and ask for a solution. The Frenchman even told Wolff that he was his only chance. In turn, Wolff assured him that he would find a solution.
Some time later, Wolff called Ocon back to tell him he found a way. Ocon would then become a driver in the Mercedes Junior Driver program. From there on, he worked his way up and entered the F1 grid in 2016 with Manor.
