Home News Esteban Ocon gets last-minute DTM debut for Mercedes

Esteban Ocon gets last-minute DTM debut for Mercedes

by Peter Allen
Esteban Ocon

Photo: Zak Mauger/GP3 Series Media Service

GP3 title contender Esteban Ocon will make his DTM debut for Mercedes at Hockenheim this weekend.

The 19-year-old Frenchman will stand in for his fellow former European F3 champion Daniel Juncadella, who has withdrawn through illness.

After winning the F3 title last year with Mercedes power and testing with its DTM team, he earned the support of the German manufacturer at the start of this season.

He has also acted as reserve driver for the Mercedes DTM squad, meaning he was on hand to take Juncadella’s place when the Spaniard was ruled out.

Ocon knows the Hockenheim circuit well having done six races there in F3 last year, winning one of them.

He is currently second in the GP3 standings, two points behind Luca Ghiotto with two rounds remaining after his eighth and ninth consecutive second-place finishes at Sochi last weekend.

Ocon will be the second single-seater racer to get a DTM call-up this season, after European F3 contender Antonio Giovinazzi raced for Audi at Moscow Raceway.