Esteban Ocon without a seat in 2020?

Esteban Ocon might still have to wait a little while before making his return to Formula 1. Benched in 2018 following the takeover of Force India by a consortium led by Lawrence Stroll, the young Mercedes protégé had to give up his seat to Lance Stroll. The management of the French driver was then caught off guard by Ricciardo signing with Renault and Sainz with McLaren. The hopes of the Normandy native to be assigned a seat with the world champion team took a hit when Toto Wolff, head of Mercedes Motorsports, stated that the Hamilton-Bottas duo could be renewed in 2020.

It is true that the pair works wonderfully. In the first three races, Mercedes drivers have never finished lower than 2nd place thanks to the Finnish driver’s victory and the two wins by the five-time British world champion.

Thanks to this brilliant start to the season, Valtteri Bottas has probably saved his place with the German team for now. An unexpected turnaround considering the 2018 season of the Finn, who was never able to secure a win. At the time, F1 observers did not give much for the Mercedes driver’s chances, and some didn’t even see him finishing his season with the famed brand.

Interviewed by our colleagues at Speed Week, here are the comments from Toto Wolff: « We have just secured three consecutive double podiums, which hasn’t been seen in F1 since 1992 with the Williams-Renault. Therefore, it is pointless to consider any lineup changes for the next season. For the period after 2020, we will first start discussions with Valtteri and Lewis, and only once those discussions are concluded will we potentially consider other options. But from my perspective, we have no reason to change the current driver pair we have. »

If a return to the premier category of motorsport might be impossible for Ocon, he could head to Formula E where Mercedes has big ambitions.

List of people who are back in town:

The boys 😎🧔👇 pic.twitter.com/CZokGtYOkx

— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) April 18, 2019