Esteban Ocon has returned to one of the karting tracks in Normandy that he raced at as a child.
The French Formula 1 driver shared a video with old home-movie-style footage of him racing at the track as a young boy, as well as footage of him returning with his father now.
"Karting, my first love," the Haas driver wrote on Instagram.
"The winter holidays are always a special time to reflect and remember where we come from. A few days ago, I had the chance to go karting on one of the tracks in Normandy where I grew up. Memories came flooding back, remembering the thousands of laps I drove there, rain or shine, sometimes even in the snow. Every lap, every moment, shaped me into who I am today.
"The journey was not easy. But I do hope all the young people out there never stop dreaming big. Because if I can make it, you can too."
Ocon was born and raised in Normandy and began competitive kart racing at nine years old before he moved to junior formulas in 2012. His family decided to sell their home during Ocon's karting years to fund his early career, during which he won the Minime class of the French Championship in 2007 and the Cadet class of the championship in 2008. He won the French KF3 title in 2010 and finished runner-up in the WSK Euro Series in 2011.
"They were the biggest supporters of my career but that is too small of a word,” he told The Guardian after clinching his first grand prix win in 2021. "They sacrificed their own life and put it to one side for me to be able to chase my dream. They sacrificed everything they could for me to continue my racing career."
He added: "Yes, it’s not something I like to talk about those times, it’s probably the last time I will talk about it because it brings back pretty tricky memories. I was young but I never really had time to be young or to live and grow up as a normal kid.
"I didn’t have the right to fail, I had to succeed. I felt the weight on my shoulders very early on, which made me grow up quicker at a young age."
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