Events of late at Force India have left Esteban Ocon with limited options for 2019, but Toto Wolff is confident the Mercedes protégé’s future in F1 will be secured.
Force India’s recent take-over by a Lawrence Stroll-led consortium means that the Canadian billionaire’s son, Lance Stroll, will move from Williams to the Silverstone-based outfit sooner rather than later.
And that move could come as early as next week, or for Singapore, and leave Ocon as the odd man out, although a transfer over to McLaren is also rumored to be in the works for the Frenchman.
“I have no doubt that Esteban Ocon will win races and compete for championships in the future. We have seen the talent today again,” Wolff told the media in Spa, after a Belgian GP qualifying session in which Ocon finished an impressive third.
“We thought his future was clear around Budapest and it all changed within 48 hours but it is how it is. It makes no sense to complain… how things panned out was unfortunate for Esteban.
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“We will continue to help him in finding a short-term solution for him to drive.
“There’s a lot of interest (in him) out there and it’s just a matter of scanning the market in the next few days to choose the right option for him and the team. But I’m very optimistic for his future.”
Indeed, Ocon looked set to join the works Renault team but that door was closed when Daniel Ricciardo’s unexpectedly decided to leave Red Bull and sign with the French squad.
Behind the scenes, efforts are rumored to be underway to place Ocon at McLaren – to the detriment of Stoffel Vandoorne – if Stroll is indeed recruited by Force India in the coming days.
“I think there is a lot of discussion going on at the moment,” added Wolff who didn’t dismiss the multiple moves currently in the works.
“But it is not down to one party deciding a movement, but we need to put in place several chess figures, and that isn’t clear yet.”
Over at McLaren, sporting director Gil de Ferran refused to comment on the speculation, or acknowledge a report that Ocon had recently visited Woking for a seat fitting.
“Esteban is not our driver so I’m not going to make any comments about that,” said the Brazilian, who also insisted that Vandoorne’s position in the team was secure.
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“I can confirm that, at present we have no other plans and he will be in the car for the rest of the year.”
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