Esteban Ocon has told his friends to slap him if he becomes 'a t*at'

Haas F1 driver Esteban Ocon has a stern direction for his friends. The Frenchman, who claimed to be grounded despite the fame and money, directed his friends to slap him if he ever became a "t*at."

Ocon entered F1 in 2016 with Manor and impressed the critics with his pace right from his first season. He moved to Force India the next season and raced for the Indian team for two years. In 2019, he joined Mercedes as its reserve driver behind Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

The very next year, Ocon joined Alpine, and there he claimed his first-ever F1 podium. It was not long before he picked his first race win after he crossed the Checkered Flag before everyone else in Hungary. He remained with Alpine till 2024 before moving to Haas.

In the meantime, the French driver has become one of the renowned and well-paid drivers on the grid. Despite this, Ocon claimed that he wanted to remain grounded and stay humble. If he did otherwise, he had a direction for his friends, and it was to smack a "slap."

"I hate the people that basically change and become someone different just because they have a bit of success. This is honestly the worst thing,” Ocon said in a report published by Crash.net. "I've always said to my friends, you can slap me in the face if you think one day I’m completely different, or I say weird things, or become, I don't know how you say it in English… a t*at," he further added.

According to a report published by PlanetF1 in early 2025, Esteban Ocon is the ninth wealthiest Formula 1 driver on the grid, with a net worth exceeding $21 million.

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Esteban Ocon "happy" with Haas promises ahead of his move from Alpine

Esteban Ocon shared his thoughts on how his move to Haas paid off as Ayao Komatsu lived up to his promises. Speaking about how Haas kept their improvement game on, here's what the French driver said:

Esteban Ocon of France driving the (31) Haas F1 VF-24 Ferrari during the Goodwood Festival of Speed - Source: Getty

"There were no lies in what Ayao said. Things are going as they should be, of course. We want to have more pace. This is the thing that we are focused on and that we need to sort out. But all the rest is very straightforward, very clear, and focused on one target, which is the important one. It’s the track, so I’m happy.”

Esteban Ocon is currently in P10 in the Drivers' Championship with 23 points after 12 races and two Sprints. His teammate, Oliver Bearman, is in P18 with six points. The two drivers propelled the American team to stay afloat in P9 with 29 points.

Edited by Vaishnavi Iyer