Esteban Ocon Could be Headed to Renault

The Force India F1 team have admitted that they would consider allowing Esteban Ocon to sign for Renault in 2019 . The Frenchman has a long-term contract with Mercedes and is on loan to Force India.

The agreement between the two states that he can only be called back to drive for the works team. However, it has become clear that Renault will likely be his destination for 2019. The idea is for him to enhance his career development. Some suggest that an option has already been agreed by Renault and Force India.

Speaking on Ocon’s situation, Wolff said: “We don’t know. We can’t comment. It’s tricky, the situation.”

The Force India team has stated that a commercial deal would be done if Ocon went to a team other than Mercedes.

“We try not to disclose the details of our driver contracts, but it’s safe to say that we would have to release him,” said team COO Otmar Szafnauer. “If circumstances made it the best thing for us to do, we’d have to look at it. We like Esteban and he’s done a great job for us. At the end of the day, it’s our call. If Renault want to pay a bunch of money, I’ll consider it!”

Meanwhile, the Renault situation is threatening to boil over because Carlos Sainz Jr is contractually tied to Red Bull. But the Austrian team is expected to retain Daniel Ricciardo in the coming weeks. This leaves Renault in a bind as to whether to choose Ocon or retain Sainz.

“One thing that is very public that is holding back a decision is the decision of Ricciardo,” Abiteboul said. “I guess with the announcements this weekend from Mercedes [new deals for Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas] I expect some domino effect, and in particular for Ricciardo, so that it clarifies a number of things for us.”

Meanwhile, Force India have insisted that they have not reached any decision regarding 2019. They say that there’s no hurry to secure a deal with senior driver Sergio Perez, who has links to other teams.

Another bonus for Renault is the fact that with Ocon, they will have a French driver in a French team.