Formula 1 returns after summer break amid speculation regarding Ocon’s future and with Albon and Gasly in new seats.
After three weeks of absolute boredom for most Formula 1 fans, the 2019 season returns with a vengeance. Nine more races are in store this season, and rumors abound about how things will shake out for the 2020 season.
This weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix will take place at the famed Spa-Francorchamps circuit. With the longest lap on the calendar, it totals 4. 4 miles per lap. It’s also the shortest lap race with only 44 laps on the course.
However, the big question facing this weekend isn’t about the fact that Spa runs 70% flat out during a lap or that this track and the next one (in Italy) are circuits with the least downforce of the year. Focus instead is on the battle in the Mercedes pit for who will be on the team in 2020. The spotlight is on reserve driver, Esteban Ocon. Current #2 driver, Valtteri Bottas, is battling leader Lewis Hamilton for the title and for his seat for next year.
So where does that leave Ocon?
Ocon is a Mercedes-trained product that team manager Toto Wolff does not want to see leave. But if he doesn’t pick Ocon to be next year’s #2 driver, then he must find a way to loan the Frenchman to another team for at least two seasons. That way, if Hamilton chooses to retire or Bottas finds a better drive, Ocon can return and try for the title.
Wolff might announce the decision this week but, no matter when he makes the call, the question remains the same: Who will join Hamilton on the Mercedes team next season?
But there are reports that Wolff won’t get to make the call. Ocon will.
Autobild (Germany) and Auto Hebdo (France) have reported rumors that Ocon has already signed a contract with Renault to join Daniel Ricciardo in 2020. If true, that means Renault’s current driver, Nico Hulkenberg, will be searching for a new drive elsewhere.
Wolff, on the other hand, believes that nothing has been decided. Hamilton even might have a say about who he prefers as #2. And then there’s the matter of Ocon’s background and temperament. Yes, Ocon would fit well with the Renault team because he is French, and so is the team. But Ocon has issues, some say, and that includes Sergio Perez, who asserts that Ocon is not a team player in a race. Max Verstappen could chime in on that score, too. Ocon would not move over last season in Brazil after Verstappen tried to lap him. The two touched as a result and were knocked out of the race. Then there’s this: Ricciardo and Ocon are both super-aggressive drivers, and that could be a problem if the two find it difficult to get along.
And to make the summer break even more eventful, where Ocon might land wasn’t the only news swirling around the pits.
Alexander Albon and Pierre Gasly have switched positions. Albom will finish the season with Red Bull, while Gasly will go back to Toro Rosso.
We’ll soon see how things settle. What we know, for sure, is this: the break is over and Belgium is on tap!
