Esteban Ocon "lost love for Formula 1" in his year out of the sport
F1 News
- Bobby Vincent
Esteban Ocon has admitted he "lost some of the love" for Formula 1 during his year out of being a full-time driver in F1. Ocon was dropped as a driver by Force India for the 2019 season.
However, Ocon has since signed a new deal for the 2020 season with Renault after missing out on the Mercedes seat with Valtteri Bottas retaining his seat for another season.
Ocon impressed for Force India (now Racing Point) but Lance Stroll replaced the Frenchman and he was left without a seat for the 2019 campaign - much to many people's shock.
"It was, of course, disappointing and I must say that I had somewhat lost my love for the sport," Ocon said to Auto Motor und Sport. "Things that happened outside the course suddenly became more important than what was happening on the course, but you have to deal with that.
"There will always be a negative side to things like this, but I am trying to look at it positively."
Ocon admitted he did have doubts if he'd ever drive in F1 again: "Of course those doubts were already there, because you never know whether you can return to the sport.
"I have always kept faith and the people around me played an important role in it. Toto (Wolff, Mercedes boss) often said: 'Believe me, we will find a solution for you.'"