Our countdown of 2017's best drivers continues with one of the most exciting new talents in F1.
7. Esteban Ocon
Championship position: 8th (87 points)
The most impressive thing about Esteban Ocon this year was that he looked nothing like a driver contesting his first full season of Formula One.
With just nine races at Manor to his name coming into the season, the Frenchman seemed to have little trouble fitting into the operation at Force India. Driving alongside Sergio Perez, entering his fourth season at the team, seemed to be a big challenge, but the highly-rated Frenchman seemed undaunted by it coming into the year.
Though the gap to Perez was pretty significant in the early part of the season, Ocon was consistent and mistake-free, scoring three consecutive 10th-place finishes to kick off the year. That consistency would continue, as he finished in the points at 18 of the 20 races. Crucially the gap would come down dramatically the longer the season went on -- his average deficit to Perez in qualifying over the year would finish at just 0.075 percent.
After the summer break, Ocon looked to be the better of the two Force India drivers, not insignificantly as he returned to circuits more familiar to him from his races with Manor last year. The final standings will say Ocon finished 13 points behind his teammate and only out-raced him seven times, but when he was behind he was rarely far from Perez's heels. Three of his best displays came at the tail-end of the season; in Japan, the U.S. and Mexico, he finished best of the rest behind the lead trio of teams.
Perhaps the biggest compliment to Ocon this year was how his pace brought him into direct conflict with Perez during the season. Perez refused to play the team game in Canada when Ocon closed on him, hurting his chances of a first career podium, before the pair came to blows again in Baku -- something which cost both men a shot of winning the race.
As with Perez, the collisions between the two have to go as a mark in the negative column, but Ocon's comparative youth and inexperience make these slightly less damming compared to a teammate in his seventh season of F1. Though the controversy was a bad situation for Force India, it showed just how close Ocon was pushing his seven-year veteran of a teammate. The fact he stayed so close to Perez is why he finishes ahead of him in our driver rankings.
This year proved that Mercedes has a potential megastar on its hands with Ocon, one who will look to state his case for a step up to Toto Wolff's team next season. Given how he finished 2017 on an upward trajectory it's fair to go into the new season with high expectations of another impressive season.