Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff will not block reserve driver Esteban Ocon from changing teams
07/30/2019
Esteban Ocon is a hot property for teams looking for a driver change in 2020.
Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff says he is prepared to let Mercedes reserve driver Esteban Ocon leave the team at the end of 2019.
Ocon, curently in the Mercedes development program, lost his Force India seat at the end of last year but is now being strongly linked with a 2020 return.
The 22-year-old is rumored to be on the 2020 radar of not only Mercedes, but also Renault, Racing Point and Haas F1 Team.
“He deserves to be in F1, that’s clear,” Wolff said. “He does a great job for us in the simulator and then at Force India in the last years. He deserves to be in Formula 1.”
Wolff is not ruling out the works Mercedes seat for Ocon next year that is currently occupied by Valtteri Bottas.
“We will take our decision in August,” Wolff said. “If we do not have room for him, we’ll have to let him go. We cannot block a young driver if we cannot offer him a cockpit.”
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