But for an invitation to try his friend's kart, Pierre Gasly might have pursued a career in football rather than motorsport.

Ahead of the youngster's F1 race debut, it has been revealed that Gasly's first experience of motorsport was when he was invited to try out his friend's kart.

"When he was very young, maybe seven or eight, my parents were friends together with his parents," Ocon told reporters at Sepang. "I was driving one day, and he was there playing football. So my dad said, 'Why don't you try Esteban's go kart?' And after that he quit football. So from the beginning of my career we've known each other basically."

"It's a pretty long story with Esteban," said Gasly when asked to expand on Ocon’s version of events, "we have known each other since we were six. We lived, more or less, in the same place and kind of grew up together in karting.

"I was happy for him when he got his opportunity in F1," he continued, "he was first with the Gravity Programme and then afterwards with Mercedes. During his DTM season he had the opportunity to go with Manor, so it's great for him. We were in different programmes, I was with Red Bull and I had to wait a bit longer for my opportunity. But, so far, I've never compared my career with his one."

Let's hope it doesn't go down the same route as those other karting buddies, Lewis and Nico.

Check out our Thursday gallery from Sepang, here.