Ten years into his Formula One career, Esteban Ocon is far from done. “I don't think I've achieved anything near what I want to achieve in Formula One,” he says. 

The whippet-thin Frenchman is in a pensive mood as he catches up with Esquire Malaysia ahead of the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix. To date, Ocon has scored four podiums total, including a race win at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix. While many drivers would give their eyeteeth for those stats, he waves it away and says his competitive spirit means he’s always looking forward. 

“I want to achieve much more, I feel like a couple of podiums and just one win is nowhere near sufficient,” he says. “My dream, of course, is to be world champion one day.”

“My dream, of course, is to be world champion one day.”

Now a grid veteran (he turns thirty in a few months), Ocon is currently in his second season with Haas, a solid midfield contender that’s looking perhaps more competitive than ever. The American constructor is known for running the leanest operation in the paddock and has competed in Formula One for precisely the same length of time as Ocon.

“I've never really had a car to fight for podiums or wins regularly,” he says. “We are not in the position to do that this year, but I believe that if you do a strong job, there will always be that opportunity that comes at some stage.” 

Ocon first lined up on the grid with the long-defunct Manor Racing in 2016, before stints at Force India, which later became Racing Point, then Renault and its successor Alpine. He has fond memories of racing at the iconic Sepang International Circuit before the Malaysian Grand Prix dropped off the F1 calendar after 2017.

“I was very sad when Malaysia's race went away,” he says. “I think [Sepang] was part of Formula One's DNA forever and it's just so cool to race there.” 

I ask Ocon what he would tell his 2016 self about the decade ahead. “I've learned a lot of things since 2016, but probably the patience that you will have the reward, you will go on the podium, you are going to have a win at least—if not more in the future—because 2016 Esteban obviously was fighting at the back of the grid,” he says.  

Ocon’s career timeline has coincided with arguably the most transformative decade in Formula One’s history. The 2017 sale to Liberty Media saw outside investment flood into the sport, while the launch of Netflix’s Drive To Survive in 2018 gave Formula One renewed cultural cachet. 

On DTS, Ocon opened up about his hardscrabble beginnings as a working class kid in karting, competing against the sons of industrialists and shipping tycoons. Today he’s a multi-millionaire living on Lake Geneva with girlfriend Flavy Barla, but there’s still a profound sense of gratitude that peppers many of Esteban’s answers.

Even the most ardent Formula One fans may have forgotten that Ocon spent a season on the sidelines as a Mercedes reserve driver in 2019. It was this period when Ocon confronted the prospect that his F1 racing career may have slipped through his fingers. 

“The 2019 season was a very tough year for me, because my dream was to race in Formula One, not being on the sideline watching,” he says. “When you are fully focused, trying to work for the last tenths and push forward as much as I was doing, you kind of forget how lucky you are to be in the position that you are and sometimes you can just not enjoy it as much as you should.” 

When he picked up another seat the following season at Renault, Ocon had a renewed joy for racing and scored his first podium in Bahrain. 

“That gave me a different perspective of things,” he says. “It really helped me realise that I love driving these cars, I love being in that position and that even if I push forward for the last couple of tenths, I should also be enjoying what I do.” 

Among his various off-track interests, Ocon is known for possessing an encyclopaedic-level knowledge of the Marvel comics universe. The armchair psych in me wants to delve deeper—does Ocon gravitate to superheroes because his extraordinary career feels a bit like having a superpower?  

He traces his superhero obsession to a treasured DVD copy of the first Sam Raimi Spider-Man movie that was a familiar comfort on long road trips during his karting days. 

“As a kid I must have watched it like 60, 70 times back then while travelling in a truck all around Europe,” he says. 

Then our interview veers way off track for a minute as we debate the quintessential Spider-Man—Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield or Tom Holland? 

“It's a very difficult question,” he frowns. In Ocon’s view, Maguire is to Peter Parker what Connery is to Bond, but he also knows Holland personally.

“Tom’s a really awesome guy, I've been very lucky to meet and speak to him quite a lot in Monaco (and) also spent some time with him at Silverstone,” he says. “All three have their strengths, and their weaknesses, and they all represent in the best way possible.” 

A less loaded topic is fashion, which has taken on increasing importance around the Formula One paddock ever since Lewis Hamilton ditched team kits for designers. Ocon, who is wearing a standard-issue Haas kit for our chat, enjoys looking good but maintains a refreshing nonchalance when it comes to dressing up for work. 

“My stylist is my girlfriend and she always has the final say,” he says. “She has great taste, I'm very lucky, you know.”

There’s that gratitude again.