Ocon entered karting in 2006, when he finished eighth in the French Minime Championship, subsequently winning the championship in the following year. His success continued in 2008, as he won the French Cadet Championship. On the back of that victory, Ocon began the first of his three seasons in the KF3 kart category. He would ultimately win the French KF3 title and finish as runner-up in the WSK Euro Series in 2011, his final season before stepping up to cars.

In 2012, Ocon made his debut in single-seaters, taking part in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 with Koiranen Motorsport. He finished fourteenth with four point-scoring finishes, including being on the podium at his home round at Le Castellet. He also contested a partial campaign in the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps with Koiranen, finishing seventh with two podiums, both of which came at the Red Bull Ring.

For 2013, he decided to switch to the ART Junior Team. He took three podiums, as well as his first victory at Le Castellet, and finished the season in third.

Ocon made his Formula Three debut at the Macau Grand Prix, racing for Prema Powerteam. In 2014 he expanded his collaboration with Prema into the FIA European Formula Three Championship. He was on top of the standings since the first round at Silverstone and won the championship with a round to spare.

Ocon’s first experience of a Formula One car was on 22 October 2014, driving the Lotus E20 as part of a two-day test for Lotus F1. A month later, he made his Grand Prix weekend debut for Lotus during the first practice session at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

On 11 March 2015, it was announced that Ocon would move to FIA Formula 3 European Championship rival GP3 Series with ART Grand Prix. He claimed the championship despite only scoring one victory (two other victories were denied due to penalties) and pressure from Luca Ghiotto.

In May 2015, Ocon was called up by Force India to drive at the post-race test in Barcelona, after Pascal Wehrlein was forced to withdraw due to illness. Prior to him claiming the GP3 title, it was announced that Ocon would enter the junior programme of the Mercedes F1 team. In February 2016, it was announced that Ocon would act as reserve driver for the Renault Sport F1 team for the 2016 season. He took part in four FP1 sessions for the team.

On 10 August 2016, Rio Haryanto was dropped from the backmarker Manor Racing team after his sponsors had failed to meet their contractual obligations. Ocon was named as his replacement for the second half of the season, driving alongside Pascal Wehrlein. Ocon made his Formula One debut at the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix, finishing 16th. He earned his best result of 12th in the chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix, dropping out of the points on the final lap.

On 10 November 2016, Force India announced that they had signed Ocon for the 2017 season as part of his multi-year contract with Mercedes, with Sergio Pérez as his new teammate. Ocon scored his first Formula One point in his first race for Force India in Australia. He finished 10th in the first three races of the season. He then finished 7th at the Russian GP, and continued the points streak with a 5th place at the Spanish GP. He stood at 8th in the drivers’ championship following the Austrian Grand Prix. Following that, he recorded 8th place in front of his teammate. He followed up with 9th in Hungary. In Belgium, Ocon was involved in a controversial collision with teammate Pérez, ending Pérez’s race. His streak of finishing 27 consecutive races ended at the Brazilian Grand Prix where he had an accident with Romain Grosjean after they collided on the first lap of the race. He finished his first full season with 87 points and 8th in the championship after an 8th-place finish in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

At the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix, Ocon hit race leader Max Verstappen while trying to unlap himself, damaging both cars. Both drivers were able to continue racing, and Ocon received a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for the incident. They argued just after the race (which Verstappen finished in second place) and Verstappen and Ocon pushed each other several times. Both drivers were summoned by the FIA and Verstappen was given two days of public service “at the discretion of the FIA” for making deliberate physical contact with Ocon.

On 23 November 2018, it was announced that Ocon would join Mercedes as their reserve driver for 2019 after it became clear that he would be replaced at Racing Point by Lance Stroll—an outcome that was finally confirmed a week later. Ocon would not take part in a Grand Prix weekend during the year. He was a contender to take the second Mercedes seat alongside Lewis Hamilton in 2020, however the team decided to continue with Valtteri Bottas.

On 29 August 2019, it was announced that Ocon would race for Renault starting in 2020, on a two-year contract. His Renault debut marked his return to Formula One as a full-time driver. He replaced Nico Hülkenberg, and partnered with Daniel Ricciardo.