Ocon 'hungrier than ever' for F1 success

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Esteban Ocon says that he's more motivated than ever to achieve success in Formula 1.

Seeing young contemporaries such as Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris moving up in the ranks is only adding to the French driver's desire to stay in the sport and show what he can do.

“I dream F1, I train F1, I eat F1, I play F1, I think F1," he said on social media on Tuesday. "I’m born to race and my only goal is to be champion and will always be."

The problem for the 21-year-old is that open seats for 2019 are rapidly drying up, leaving him potentially out in the cold despite a strong season with Force India.

His current seat alongside Sergio Perez is almost certain to be handed to Lance Stroll next year, after the team was saved from administration in August by a consortium led by the Canadian's father Lawrence.

Mercedes ties make Ocon a no go for Toro Rosso

With Leclerc now confirmed at Ferrari, Norris at McLaren and veteran driver Kimi Raikkonen taking a two-year deal to return to Sauber, it's looking as though Ocon could be left out in the cold.

Helmut Marko has effectively ruled out a spot for any Mercedes-backed driver at Toro Rosso. A place at Williams is still a possibility, but current test and development driver Robert Kubica is believed to be the front-runner there.

However, Ocon insisted that he isn't giving up.

“I have to thank everyone for all the kind messages and support I receive every day,” Ocon said in a post on Twitter.

“We have been in tough situations before and we’ve always overcome those, there was no easy way throughout my career.

“I can promise that it’s not at this moment I will give up. Motivation is high and my old time rivals are in top cars.

"This makes me hungrier than ever,” he added.

Ocon finished in sixth place in Belgium and in Italy, and is hoping for more points this weekend in Singapore.

"In the two races after the summer break we have shown good pace and scored a lot of points," he said. "We go to Singapore aiming to continue this run of great races.

“Singapore is the toughest race of the year from a physical point of view. It’s hot and it’s humid, but I have been preparing for it with lots of cardio training.

"It’s important to eat the right things and drink a lot even before we travel to Singapore.

“The Singapore race is a fantastic event. Night races are always different and there is the added challenge of a street circuit," he said. "Hopefully we can keep our position at the front of the midfield."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.