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 Circuit Paul Ricard. 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.

Ocon remained in the series for 2013, switching to the ART Junior Team. He recorded one pole position and won two races including at Circuit Paul Ricard, finishing the season in third place behind Pierre Gasly and Oliver Rowland. A partial campaign in the Northern European Cup produced a race win at the Hockenheimring and two further podiums.

Ocon made his debut in Formula Three machinery at the 2013 Macau Grand Prix with Prema Powerteam. He stalled at the start of the main race but went on to finish tenth.

Ocon continued his collaboration with Prema into the 2014 FIA Formula 3 European Championship. He topped the standings at the first round at Silverstone Circuit and remained in the lead of the championship for the rest of the season. With two rounds to spare, he made a brief appearance in the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 Series with Comtec Racing. Ocon was crowned FIA Formula 3 European champion with three races remaining, ahead of Tom Blomqvist and Max Verstappen. He finished on the podium in twenty-one of the thirty-three races, winning nine, and recorded fifteen pole positions. Ocon made a second appearance at the Macau Grand Prix in 2014. He qualified fourth for the main race but was eliminated by a multi-car collision on the first lap.

In 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 fellow Mercedes junior Pascal Wehrlein. Ocon made his Formula One debut at the Belgian Grand Prix, qualifying eighteenth and finishing sixteenth. He earned his best result of twelfth in the rain-affected Brazilian Grand Prix, dropping out of the points positions on the final lap. He then finished thirteenth at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. These results placed Ocon 23rd in the Drivers' Championship, ahead of Haryanto, who had recorded a best finish of fifteenth place.

Amidst speculation that he would be promoted to a Renault race seat for 2017, Ocon expressed a desire to be part of the team's long-term future and described himself as "a Renault driver, but managed by Mercedes". Renault managing director Cyril Abiteboul stated that Ocon was still a candidate for a seat at the team despite his Mercedes links. In November 2016, it was announced that Mercedes engine customer Force India had signed Ocon on a multi-year contract, with Sergio Pérez as his new teammate for the 2017 season.

Ocon scored his first Formula One point in his first race for Force India, finishing tenth at the Australian Grand Prix. He followed this with four further points finishes including a career-best fifth place at the Spanish Grand Prix. Following a twelfth place finish at the Monaco Grand Prix, Ocon recorded twelve consecutive points finishes but was often involved in incidents with teammate Pérez. At the Canadian Grand Prix, Pérez ignored requests from the team to let Ocon past to challenge Daniel Ricciardo for third place. The two drivers collided at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, forcing Pérez into retirement and giving Ocon a puncture. They made contact at the Hungarian Grand Prix and then again at the Belgian Grand Prix, where Ocon was squeezed towards a wall leading up to the Eau Rouge complex. Ocon later remarked that he was "furious" with Pérez and that he "risked [their] lives". Force India team owner Vijay Mallya stated that the repeated incidents were "very concerning" and that he would enforce team orders thereon.

Ocon started the Italian Grand Prix in third place after the Red Bull drivers faced penalties, the highest grid position of his career. He went on to finish the race sixth. He spent much of the Mexican Grand Prix in third place and eventually finished fifth. His streak of finishing twenty-seven consecutive races ended at the Brazilian Grand Prix, where he collided with Romain Grosjean on the first lap. He finished his first full season in Formula One eighth in the World Drivers' Championship, scoring 87 points to Pérez's 100. A poll of the Formula One team principals ranked Ocon the fifth-best driver of the season. James Allen of Motorsport.com also placed Ocon in his top five, remarking that "by the second half of the season Ocon was beating Pérez regularly".

Ocon continued alongside Pérez at Force India in 2018. Ocon's first points of the season came with a tenth-place finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix. At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, he was involved in a first-lap collision with Kimi Räikkönen that ended his race, whilst teammate Pérez went on to claim a podium finish. Ocon retired with an oil leak at the next race, the Spanish Grand Prix. He recorded five more points finishes before the summer break, including sixth-place finishes at the Monaco and Austrian Grands Prix, but retired from his home race, the French Grand Prix, after a first-lap collision with Pierre Gasly.

Following the Hungarian Grand Prix in July, Force India's financial problems had forced it into administration. The team's assets were purchased by a consortium of investors led by businessman Lawrence Stroll — father of Williams driver Lance Stroll — and a new entry was formed under the name Racing Point Force India. The new owners would retain Ocon and Pérez for the remainder of the season.

At the next race, the Belgian Grand Prix, Ocon achieved the joint-highest starting position of his career with third and went on to finish sixth. Ocon and Pérez collided on the first lap of the Singapore Grand Prix, causing Ocon to crash into a wall and retire from the race. The team described the collision as "unacceptable" and banned the drivers from racing each other. Pérez later apologised for his role in the accident. Ocon was disqualified from eighth place at the United States Grand Prix after his car was found to have exceeded fuel flow limits. At the Brazilian Grand Prix, he collided with race leader Max Verstappen whilst attempting to un-lap himself, damaging both cars. Both drivers were able to continue racing and Ocon received a ten-second stop-and-go penalty for the incident. They argued just after the race (in which Verstappen finished second) and pushed each other several times. Both drivers were summoned by the FIA and Verstappen was ordered to undertake two days of public service "at the discretion of the FIA" for making deliberate physical contact with Ocon.

Ocon finished the season twelfth in the World Drivers' Championship, scoring 49 points to Pérez's 62 and qualifying ahead of Pérez at sixteen of the twenty-one races. Keith Collantine of RaceFans commented that Ocon "convincingly beat his team mate over the course of the season" but that Pérez’s superior "sense of self-preservation" contributed to his higher points tally.

It was announced in August 2019 that Ocon would join Renault for 2020, signing a two-year contract and marking his return to Formula One as a full-time driver. He replaced Nico Hülkenberg and was partnered with Daniel Ricciardo. Renault managing director Cyril Abiteboul clarified that whilst Ocon was still managed by Mercedes, this was not a loan agreement and he would be a "fully-fledged Renault driver".

Ocon scored points on his Renault debut at the Austrian Grand Prix, qualifying fourteenth and finishing eighth. He was running in seventh place at the Styrian Grand Prix when he retired with a cooling issue. He scored back-to-back points at Silverstone Circuit with sixth place at the British Grand Prix and eighth place at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, despite being issued a grid penalty at the latter for impeding George Russell in qualifying. His best race finish since 2017 came at the Belgian Grand Prix, where he qualified sixth and finished fifth behind teammate Ricciardo.

Ocon's brakes caught fire during a safety car period at the Tuscan Grand Prix. The team was unable to repair the damage during the red flag period which occurred soon after, and Ocon failed to make the restart. He experienced further mechanical retirements at the Eifel Grand Prix and the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. He qualified seventh for the Turkish Grand Prix and made his way into third place by the first corner, but separate collisions with Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas resulted in him finishing outside the points in eleventh place.

Ocon started eleventh at the Sakhir Grand Prix. He had improved to fifth place by lap 54 of 87, assisted by collisions on the opening lap and drivers making second pit stops. A virtual safety car (VSC) period followed, which third-placed Carlos Sainz Jr. and fourth-placed Ricciardo attempted to take advantage of by entering the pits. However, the VSC period ended whilst they were in the pit lane, nullifying their advantage and promoting Ocon to third place. He was soon overtaken by Sergio Pérez, however pit stop issues for the leading Mercedes cars allowed Ocon to claim his first Formula One podium by finishing second, Renault's best race result since 2010.

Ocon ended the season twelfth in the World Drivers' Championship, scoring 62 points to Ricciardo's 119. Ocon described his progress over the season as "strong", however Luke Slater at The Telegraph described his performance in comparison to Ricciardo as "decent but largely outclassed", having been outqualified by Ricciardo fifteen times in seventeen races.

Renault rebranded as Alpine F1 Team for the 2021 season. The team signed two-time world champion Fernando Alonso to partner Ocon after Daniel Ricciardo left for McLaren. At the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, Ocon was rear-ended by Sebastian Vettel and finished thirteenth; Vettel later apologised for the incident. Ocon was classified ninth at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix ahead of Alonso in tenth, earning the team their first points under the Alpine name. His first retirement of the season came at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with a turbocharger failure. He struggled with tyre wear and finished fourteenth at the French Grand Prix, qualified seventeenth for both the Styrian and Austrian Grands Prix and retired from the latter after a first-lap collision with Antonio Giovinazzi. Prior to the French Grand Prix, it was announced that Ocon had signed a contract extension with Alpine running to the end of 2024.

Ocon started eighth at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Multiple collisions ahead saw him promoted to second place at the first corner, which became first place when race leader Lewis Hamilton pitted for dry-weather tyres one lap later than the rest of the field. Ocon held on to the lead for the remainder of the race, fending off Sebastian Vettel to take his and Alpine's maiden Formula One victory and Team Enstone's first win since 2013.

This win was followed by points finishes at the next three races. The Turkish Grand Prix took place in damp conditions and Ocon finished tenth having run the entire race distance on one set of intermediate-weather tyres. This was the first time a driver had completed a full race distance without making a pit stop since 1997. A collision with Antonio Giovinazzi at the United States Grand Prix broke Ocon's front wing and ultimately led to retirement. A fifth-place finish at the Qatar Grand Prix was followed by a near-podium at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix; Ocon briefly led the race at its first restart and ran in third place for most of the race, but was passed by Valtteri Bottas shortly before the chequered flag, finishing just 0.102 seconds behind.

Ocon ended the season eleventh in the drivers' championship, scoring 74 points to Alonso's 81. The two drivers were generally evenly-matched across the season with each qualifying and finishing ahead of the other an equal number of times. Edd Straw of The Race described the teammate battle as "nip and tuck" and praised Ocon for a "reputation-enhancing campaign".

Alpine retained Ocon and Alonso for the 2022 season. Ocon finished seventh at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix despite receiving a penalty for colliding with Mick Schumacher. He qualified fifth and finished sixth at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix where a close battle with Alonso ended with Ocon being ordered by the team to hold his position. A crash in practice for the Miami Grand Prix forced him to miss qualifying and start last on the grid. He recovered in the race to be classified eighth. Ocon's practice crash into a concrete wall was measured at 42 g. He later revealed that the effects of the crash caused him to collapse in the shower and urinate blood the following morning.

At the Spanish Grand Prix, Ocon qualified twelfth and finished seventh, ahead of Alonso, after holding off the fast-charging Lando Norris. Ocon finished ninth at the Monaco Grand Prix but was demoted to twelfth by a penalty for colliding with Lewis Hamilton. At the British Grand Prix, Ocon qualified fifteenth due to battery issues and retired from the race with a fuel pump problem, despite the significant upgrade packages brought to the Alpine A522. Five points finishes followed, including fifth at the Austrian Grand Prix. Ocon qualified fifth at the Belgian Grand Prix but was demoted to sixteenth by an engine component penalty. He recovered in the race to score points in seventh place.

He started seventeenth at the Singapore Grand Prix having experienced brake problems in qualifying and then retired from the race with an engine failure. Ocon's best result of the season thus far came at the Japanese Grand Prix, where he held off Lewis Hamilton to finish fourth. Ocon was eliminated in the first qualifying session and started eighteenth at the United States Grand Prix; he finished eleventh after taking new power unit elements and starting from the pit lane. He was involved in separate collisions with teammate Alonso in the São Paulo Grand Prix sprint, with the damage to his car dropping him to seventeenth place. He recovered to score points in the race.

Ocon ended the season eighth in the drivers' championship, equalling his best result previously achieved in 2017. He scored 92 points to Alonso's 81 but was outqualified by Alonso in twelve out of twenty-two races. Matt Morlidge at Sky Sports described the season as Ocon's "best-ever" but put his points advantage over Alonso down to better car reliability.

For 2023, Ocon gained a new teammate in former karting rival Pierre Gasly as Alonso departed to Aston Martin. His training was impacted prior to the start of the season when he got "very sick" with a lung virus.

At the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, Ocon received penalties for being out of position on the grid, failing to serve the penalty correctly and for speeding in the pit lane. He eventually retired from the race with mechanical issues. He started sixth and scored his first points of the season at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, finishing eighth. Running in tenth place at the final restart of the Australian Grand Prix, Ocon was involved in a heavy collision with teammate Gasly, who apologised for his role in the incident. Ocon crashed in qualifying at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and started the race from the pit lane. During the race, Ocon ran on hard tyres until the last lap. Photographers began to enter the pit lane, not realising Ocon was yet to pit, and narrowly avoided being hit by his car.

Ocon started third at the Monaco Grand Prix after Charles Leclerc ahead received a penalty. Ocon held off Carlos Sainz Jr. in the first half of the race but lost a place to George Russell during the pit stops. A mistake and a penalty for Russell allowed Ocon back into third place, earning him his third career podium and the Driver Of The Day award. More points came at the Spanish and Canadian Grands Prix and in the rain-affected Austrian Grand Prix sprint race where he held off Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and McLaren's Lando Norris. In the main race, Ocon received a record five time penalties for track limits violations and an unsafe pit box release. Consecutive retirements followed with a hydraulics leak at the British Grand Prix and a first-lap crash at the Hungarian Grand Prix. He improved from fourteenth on the grid at the Belgian Grand Prix to score points in eighth place.

Ocon retired from the Italian Grand Prix "for safety reasons" due to a steering issue. He then retired from sixth place at the Singapore Grand Prix with a gearbox problem, his fourth non-finish in six races. He finished the Qatar Grand Prix in seventh despite the hot weather conditions causing him to vomit into his helmet. His seventh retirement of the season came at the United States Grand Prix after a collision with Oscar Piastri. Ocon started sixteenth at the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, avoided collisions to improve to eighth on the first lap and climbed to fourth place by the end of the race.

Ocon ended the season twelfth in the World Drivers' Championship with 58 points compared to 62 for teammate Gasly, who qualified ahead of Ocon at fourteen of the twenty-two races. Ocon described the season as a "wasted opportunity" due to his high number of race retirements. Mark Hughes at The Race commented that Ocon "did a pretty solid job" in 2023, but that as the season went on, "the momentum was with Gasly".

Ocon continued alongside Gasly at Alpine for 2024. During pre-season testing, he noted that the team were "on the back foot". The Alpine drivers qualified nineteenth and twentieth for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, which Gasly described as "not a surprise". Ocon reached the second qualifying session at the Australian Grand Prix but failed to make progress in the race. A helmet visor tear-off strip had got stuck in his car's brake duct, which Ocon believed had cost him a potential top-ten finish. Ocon claimed the team's first points of 2024 at the Miami Grand Prix, improving from thirteenth on the grid to tenth at the finish. He qualified eleventh at the Monaco Grand Prix but retired after colliding with Gasly on track, for which he apologised and claimed responsibility.

During the Canadian Grand Prix, Alpine imposed team orders forcing Ocon to give up ninth place to Gasly, who was in better position to attack Daniel Ricciardo. However, after Gasly failed to pass Ricciardo, Alpine did not ask Gasly to give the place back to Ocon, a decision he described as "nonsense". Ocon reached the third qualifying session (Q3) for the first time in 2024 at the Spanish Grand Prix and achieved another tenth-place finish. Further Q3 appearances came at the Austrian and Belgian Grands Prix, with Ocon scoring points in ninth place at the latter. He failed to score points at the following six races, but did set his first fastest lap at the United States Grand Prix after Alpine brought him in for a late pit stop to deny Constructors' Championship rivals Williams the bonus point for fastest lap.

A qualifying session beset by rain and red flags at the São Paulo Grand Prix helped Ocon qualify in fourth place. He led part of the race after the drivers ahead pitted, but was ultimately overtaken by eventual race winner Max Verstappen. Ocon finished the race in second place ahead of Gasly in third, marking Alpine's first double-podium and the first for Team Enstone since 2013. This result more than tripled the team's points tally and promoted them from ninth to sixth in the World Constructors' Championship. Ocon was eliminated in a lap-one collision at the Qatar Grand Prix, his final race for Alpine.

In June, shortly after his Monaco Grand Prix collision with Gasly, Alpine announced that Ocon would leave the team at the end of the season. In July, it was announced that he would join Haas for the 2025 season on a multi-year contract. Ocon did not take part in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix; his seat was taken by Alpine reserve driver Jack Doohan, who was already set to replace Ocon in 2025. It was reported that, since Ocon was under contract until the end of the year, Alpine required him to leave the team one race early in exchange for being allowed to drive for Haas at the post-season test. Addressing speculation about the early driver change, Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes commented "I think it suits everybody". In a message on Instagram, Ocon thanked the team and wrote that "this is not how I wanted things to end."

Ocon placed fourteenth in the World Drivers' Championship, scoring 23 points to Gasly's 36 up to and including the Qatar Grand Prix. The two drivers were fairly evenly-matched in head-to-head results, with Ocon qualifying ahead of Gasly at twelve of the twenty-three races. Writers at Sky Sports praised Ocon's São Paulo performance but described his final season at Alpine as "otherwise a forgettable campaign".

Ocon joined Haas on a multi-year deal for 2025, partnering rookie Oliver Bearman. Ocon and Bearman qualified in the bottom two positions and finished last of the remaining drivers at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, a result Ocon described as "unexpected". He finished fifth from eighteenth on the grid at the Chinese Grand Prix following disqualifications for both Ferrari drivers, achieving his first points finish in the VF-25. After crashing out of qualifying and starting fourteenth at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Ocon climbed to eighth on an alternate strategy. He retired with an engine failure at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix but then scored further points at the Monaco, Canadian and Austrian Grands Prix.

Ocon qualified and finished fifth at the Belgian Grand Prix sprint, scoring a further four points, but failed to score in the main race, describing the team's tyre strategy as "frustrating". He achieved more points finishes at the Dutch, Mexico City and Las Vegas, but was disqualified from qualifying at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for a technical infringement and was eliminated from the United States Grand Prix sprint after a crash with Lance Stroll. He ended the season by qualifying in the top ten for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and finishing seventh, although he described his car as unstable and having been "unmanageable for many races".

Ocon finished fifteenth in the World Drivers' Championship with 38 points compared to 41 for teammate Bearman. Ocon was outqualified by Bearman at fourteen of the twenty-four races. Writers at The Race commented that Bearman's qualifying performance had "made life difficult" for Ocon, and Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu remarked that the team had "expected more" from him.

Ocon continued driving alongside Bearman at Haas in 2026. At pre-season testing, Ocon stated that the VF-26 had "good grip and balance", but had a challenge adapting to the new regulations, particularly in both energy management and engine deployment.

Ocon qualified and finished outside the top ten at the first two races (the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix) whilst Bearman scored a total of 17 points. Ocon was given a ten-second time penalty at the latter for colliding with Franco Colapinto. Ocon scored a point at the Japanese Grand Prix, finishing tenth, having been disadvantaged by the timing of a safety car. Further points came at the Monaco Grand Prix, where he improved from seventeenth on the grid to ninth at the finish.

After another elimination in the first qualifying session (Q1) at the Belgian Grand Prix, Ocon claimed that "only [Bearman's] car works as it should", complaining of a lack of straight-line speed. Ocon and Bearman collided on the first lap of the race, causing tyre punctures for both cars. Ocon retired from the Dutch Grand Prix with an engine failure. He started the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in thirteenth place and improved to eighth at the finish, his best result of the season thus far.

After the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in September, Ocon confirmed that he would leave Haas at the end of the season. Writing on social media, Ocon said he was proud of his performances "in what were not always the easiest of circumstances" and that his departure was "absolutely not the end" of his Formula One career.