F1 News
Toto Wolff on Esteban Ocon: "Having him compete against Hamilton wouldn't be good"
Esteban Ocon was part of the Mercedes set up and looked like he was an option to replace Valtteri Bottas after the Finn failed to challenge Lewis Hamilton all season. However, the German team have backed Bottas so Ocon has moved to Renault where he will hope to excel.
Toto Wolff explained that letting Ocon go was a difficult decision but the team couldn't have him racing against Lewis Hamilton.
"Letting the Ocon compete with Hamilton, while Lewis has been with Mercedes for seven years and is at the top of his abilities with this age, is not good for Esteban. Especially after he got out of it for a year," Wolff said.
"We could have gone for the more exciting story and probably Esteban had also done well, but there is only one man who did well in his first year against a superstar and that was Lewis Hamilton himself (against Fernando Alonso at McLaren in 2007). All other drivers needed time.
"We don't want to risk his future. He could have done things to beat Lewis, which might not have been good for his career."
It will be interesting to see in Ocon remains an option for Mercedes when Hamilton retires or if George Russell and drivers for other teams will be favored. Either way, it is great to have the French talent back on the grid and it will be fascinating to see how he performs.