Ocon negotiating with Williams over 2019 drive
- Published on 26 Sep 2018 13:28
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- By: Fergal Walsh
Esteban Ocon has admitted that he is negotiating with Williams over a 2019 race seat, but admits that he isn't sure if the deal will come off. The Frenchman is set to leave Force India at the end of the year to be replaced by Lance Stroll, whose father now controls the team.
Ocon had deals in place with Renault and McLaren before they opted to pen contracts Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris respectively. And Ocon admitted that Williams is his last shot at staying in F1 for the 2019 season.
"I don't know whether I can go to Williams," Ocon said. "We are negotiating and we hope that everything will work out. Not having a contract for next season is not a catastrophe but you never know how things will develop in Formula 1. What I can promise is that next year I will do my best to be back in the championship in 2020."
Mercedes previously stated that it would not release Ocon from its junior programme, as it has done with Pascal Wehrlein. Although he may be without an F1 seat next year, the 22-year-old is confident that he'll be in the series come 2020.
"It's a bit strange how it turned out, because I had options with two big teams and most drivers can only dream of that. But we will find a solution," Ocon told TF1. "Even if I have to miss next season, I am sure that I will return to Formula 1 in 2020.
"I was surprised when Renault signed a contract with Daniel Ricciardo. Renault has explained that it was because I was in the Mercedes programme, but I do not agree with Cyril Abiteboul," Ocon continued. "Yes I'm a Mercedes driver, but if I was in a Renault that wouldn't matter. I'm a little upset that as a sportsman, it's not only your sporting achievements that matter."
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Replies (8)
Login to replytalktohenry
Posts: 362
Think Toto needs to step up with the chequebook and make sure he gets into the Williams, since no space for him in Merc where he should have got the drive as Bottas can't get a look in with LH.
F1_IS_Dead
Posts: 123
People really don't get it. Bottas is still having his Mercedes seat BECAUSE of his "poor" performance. This is exactly what they pay him for. Ocon is too fast for Hamilton, that's why there is no room for him.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Bottas hasnt really been performing all that poor though, has he? Especially when considering he has managed to be a decent enough blocker for Hammy, and thats all they really need him for.
talktohenry
Posts: 362
As good as Ocon, it I doubt if he will beat LH, the only man for that job is Alonso.
F1_IS_Dead
Posts: 123
Alonso and his 0.6s - right... Even the number 2 driver Rosberg could beat Hamilton. Without team support. Put Verstappen in the second Mercedes seat and Hamilton quits F1 after a few races.
Ocon wouldn't have to beat him on a regular base. Challenging him would be enough to weaken him. He would start getting paranoid again... That's why Bottas was chosen. He knows what he has to do.
It is easy to look good when you have the fastest car and a weak teammate.
xoya
Posts: 583
Hamilton is really good, Alonso is/was (cannot be sure in that McLaren) and a good driver always had a number 2 driver by his side, apart from a few partnerships which lasted a few years and are the reason it is so.
Apart from that, Rosberg is "meh", it was only because of Hamilton's poor form he managed to win the championship. I put him in the same group of champions with Keke, Mansell, Villeneuve and Hill (Damon).
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
@F1_is_dead @talktohenry It takes a special kind of foolish fanboy to suggest that either Alonso or Hamilton would easily beat one or the other. It would be a battle for the ages. The 2007 season was a strange season and while it showed strengths and weaknesses in both of them, it would be moronic to extrapolate those results to the present day. i.e. Because X beat Y in 2007, it would be the same today.
Then of course comments like "Put Verstappen in the second Mercedes seat and Hamilton quits F1 after a few races" haha, I don't know why some many of Max's fans engage in this kind of embarrassing over-the-top bullshit. No doubt Max would challenge Lewis, but to suggest that he would quit? Sounds like an 8 year old arguing.
"It is easy to look good when you have the fastest car and a weak teammate." I absolutely agree with this, but with the caveat that you need to be dominant. Sebastian's championships from 2010 and 2012 for example when he almost lost to Alonso showed that even with a dominant car he wasn't dominating the championships. We see some of that weakness now when fighting Lewis.
Finally Bottas and Ocon... The reason Bottas is kept at Mercedes is that he is doing a perfect job as at #2 driver. He's not pathetically slow and error-prone like Raikkonen. He will not cost Mercedes a constructor's championship. But he is fast enough to win races, pole positions, etc. More importantly, he's drama-free. Why would Mercedes rock that boat? Theirs has been a winning formula so far. As a fan I'd rather see a fight and drama like with Rosberg, but Mercedes is doing the right thing for the team. Again, I'd contrast that with Ferrari and the truly weak #2 drivers they always hire: Irvine, Barrichello, Massa, and Raikkonen.
boudy
Posts: 1,168
@AJ.
No doubt Hamilton is an great driver but when was the last time that he wasn't in a race winning car? To have two drivers in one team that are winners will guarantee tension between drivers. This is the main reason why Bottas is now in that Mercedes seat.
If you look at Hamilton's history and his struggles against Alonso and Rosberg you can see the communication from the British media towards his team mates.
There is an definite bias towards Hamillton in reporting within the British media, as with Vettel in Germay and Verstappen in the Netherlands.
Personally I would have loved for Hamilton to move to Ferrari and switch with Vettel so we would get an better understanding of his talents. Now we only known that he can win with an Mercedes which something that Bottas could also do.
Verstappen is simply not allow in the Ferrari/Mercedes cars because of their main drivers. Bernie already touched on this before in another new article. If this were to happen than there would be fireworks between those drivers.
On most circuits Verstappen has had the disadvantage of the Renault engine which has lagged behind the Mercedes/Ferrari PU's. It's easier to win with the best material which has been in Lewis his hands for an long time. The same can not be said about the Redbull wins; they were because their drivers drove their cars to their potential and got the strategy right.