At the introduction of Alpine's new car, Esteban Ocon announced that he has a contract with Mercedes.
After the announcement of Hamilton's departure from Mercedes after a decade of loyal service, the question is of course who will fill the seat. Now Mercedes is no longer the extremely dominant team it was in the period 2014 to 2020. But of course it remains a factory team. And don't forget, we also measure performance against the standard they previously set. Bottom line, the team finished second in the constructors' championship last year. So there are still eight teams that are simply worse.
So it will be a popular seat, the one next to George Russell. In principle, both drivers and team have a year to see which direction performance is heading. If Mercedes wins again this year, everyone will of course call Toto Wolff. The team itself can of course also take a critical look at the drivers. Does Alonso remain sharp at 43? How will Kimi Antonelli do in F2? And maybe Esteban Ocon will come too in picture.
In any case, the Frenchman is not wasting any time on it. During the launch event of his team Alpine, Esteban casually stated that he 'still has a contract' with Mercedes. Well great. Anyway, Alpine will have its own opinion. But of course it is an interesting story in itself.
Ocon is not the most popular driver on the grid, but we sometimes forget that he was once considered a huge talent. As such, he has been part of the training programs of Mercedes and/or Renault for a large part of his career. And apparently, that is still the case.
I have always had a strong bond with Mercedes. I am still a junior driver for Mercedes. It's always been that way. Even though I'm not really a junior anymore. To some extent I still have a contract with them. That's how it is. We will see. At the moment I am fully committed to Alpine, that is where my focus is. As always, I have to perform well on the asphalt. Every year is crucial in F1 because it doesn't really matter whether you have a contract. If you perform poorly, you can be kicked out. That's how it works. If you perform well, there will always be conversations, rumors and positive opportunities for you.
Esteban Ocon, realist, but still…
Since Ocon was beaten (narrowly, but still) by teammate Gasly last year, we don't think there is much chance that he will run away with the Mercedes seat. Unless he means the seat next to Toto Wolff in the garage, where he also sat in 2019. But you don't know. Ocon has already indicated that from now on he will really do everything he can to win. So it will depend on whether that works.
This article Esteban Ocon: “I have a contract with Mercedes” first appeared on Autoblog.nl.
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