Esteban Ocon started competing in karting in 2006, in the French Minime Championship. He finished 8th in his first season but won the following year. Moving up to the French Cadet Championship in 2008, he won the title in hia first season.
Racing internationally in 2009 in the KF3 championship, he staying in that series until 2011, becoming the champion in his final year. The following season, he made his debut in single seaters, competing in Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and finished 14th.
In 2013, he switched to the ART team, winning a race and taking three podiums. He finished the season in third place overall. He made his Formula 3 debut at the 2013 Macau GP, with Prema. Finishing tenth on his debut, he continued racing in F3 in 2014, winning the championship with a round to go.
He made his first F1 appearance at the Abu Dhabi GP in 2014, driving in free practice for Lotus. Moving up to GP3 for the 2015 season, he joined the ART team and took the title despite taking only a single victory. Joining the Mercedes F1 junior programme, it was announce he would be competing in DTM for Mercedes in 2016 alongside his reserve driver role at Renault.
On 10th August 2016, Manor announced Ocon would replace Haryanto at Manor for the rest of the season, after Haryanto failed to meet contractual requirements.