9. 9. 2024
It will be a momentous weekend for Esteban in Azerbaijan, as he reaches a special landmark. When he lines up on the Baku grid on Sunday, he will have achieved a century and a half of Formula 1 starts.
Esteban will join the 44 other drivers to have competed in 150 or more races in the 74-year history of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. He is currently tied with Renault legend René Arnoux on 149 starts — and just four Grands Prix more than his Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly. On the eve of this achievement, we pay tribute to his career so far.
After winning the European F3 Championship with nine wins in 2014, Esteban graduated to GP3 and through a remarkably consistent campaign — in which he scored 14 podiums — he was crowned champion in 2015. There followed a brief spell in the German DTM touring car series, but the Normandy racer’s sole focus was on Formula 1.
The Frenchman made his F1 debut the following year at Spa-Francorchamps with the Manor team. He raced eight more times for the small-scale squad until he was given a full-time seat at Force India (latterly Racing Point) where he raced for the next two seasons. His years with the Silverstone-based outfit were remarkably consistent (a hallmark of Esteban’s junior single-seater career) and he scored a total of 136 points across 2017 and 2018.
After spending a year on the sidelines as Mercedes’ reserve driver, the Évreux-born racer signed for Renault in 2020. Despite the truncated racing programme due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he secured the first podium of his F1 career with an excellent second place at the Sakhir Grand Prix. To date it remains the only Formula 1 race to be held on Bahrain’s shorter 3.5km layout.
The highlight of Esteban’s Formula 1 journey so far came at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix, a race he brilliantly won for us at a wet/dry Hungaroring. After smartly avoiding the Turn 1 incident off the start, he didn’t put a foot wrong to triumph ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz. The victory was a true team effort as Fernando Alonso worked his magic to hold up traffic to benefit of his team-mate. When Esteban crossed the line in P1 after 70 frantic laps, it was a joyous moment for the whole of our team.
“What a moment, allez les bleus!” said a delighted Esteban. “I can’t be thankful enough for the team’s work and support, as it’s all paid off. A big thanks to everyone at Enstone and Viry – this is for you!”
The following year, Esteban took his joint-best position, eighth place overall in the Drivers’ Championship, having amassed 92 points. There followed more success last season when the Frenchman achieved the third podium of his career. Once again, in challenging conditions, he drove superbly on the streets of Monaco to secure third place — helped by a brilliant qualifying the day before. Congratulations on reaching 150 F1 starts Esteban!