Ocon discusses Wolff’s role in his Renault move

Esteban Ocon refuses to dwell on George Russell being given a Mercedes chance ahead of him, saying he is “very proud” of the route he has taken.

That pathway, of course, was to Renault, who are now branded Alpine, and Ocon enjoyed a second-place finish with them in the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix before famously bagging his first F1 victory at the Hungaroring last year.

A Mercedes junior driver since 2015, Ocon is nearly a year-and-a-half older than Russell and has been connected to the German giants for longer than the Briton.

His first F1 racing opportunity came in 2016 with Manor, after which he joined Force India/Racing Point for two seasons before being ousted in favour of Lance Stroll following the team’s buyout by the Canadian driver’s father.

That meant a year on the sidelines for Ocon in 2019, but midway through that campaign there were rumours he could replace Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes for 2020.

However, that did not happen, Ocon signed for Renault and when Mercedes dispensed with Bottas’ services for 2022, they opted to promote Russell instead.

Asked during the Beyond the Grid podcast about how close he had been to partnering Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, Ocon said: “I don’t know. I was very well looked after from James Vowles, from Toto [Wolff]. They were looking after me and trying to find solutions.

“Toto was quite clear, he said you will drive in 2020. It’s been quite a few times that when he spoke about something [it] actually happened. And it did happen again. Not at Mercedes but at Renault.

“What I know is I was very proud of my choice, in the end going to Renault to race with the team I grew up with at Enstone for so many years.

“Back in 2011, when I was still in go-karts, I was training at their