PlayStation France has announced that Formula One driver Esteban Ocon will be the official Gran Turismo 7 ambassador for the country.
Frenchman Ocon has raced in F1 for seven seasons, making his first start at Manor halfway through 2016 when he replaced Rio Haryanto. As part of the Mercedes driver development program, he drove for the Mercedes-powered Force India/Racing Point team until it encountered financial strife in 2018.
After sitting out of the sport for a season in 2019, during which he became the Mercedes team’s test driver, he signed with the Renault Sport team for 2020, which became the Alpine F1 team last season.
Once regarded as one of the sport’s brightest young talents, Ocon scored Alpine’s first — and so far only — win in F1, picking through the carnage at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix. He’d also previously finished in second in the chaotic Sakhir Grand Prix in 2020, ahead of the man who replaced him at Racing Point, Lance Stroll.
The announcement video is, naturally, entirely in French. However Ocon talks about his experiences with Gran Turismo, starting when he was just four years old with Gran Turismo 3. In particular he references the first time he beat his dad, around Trial Mountain — which of course returns for GT7.
Noting that it was the first racing game he ever played, Ocon also comments that he’s continued to play through GT4, GT5, GT6, and GT Sport, and still plays the game in his free time when he isn’t racing or testing in F1 or running in the Alpine simulator. Of course we did see Ocon take part in a special France vs. Spain GT Sport event in 2020.
Interestingly, Ocon states that his favorite track in the game is Tsukuba, which he notes is a very tight and technical circuit, although he hasn’t had a chance to drive it in the real world yet.
Finally, Ocon comments that players should keep an eye on relevant social media for GT7 challenges over the coming months, and there’ll also be special Twitch livestreams with guests that could include “you”.
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