Toto Wolff has confirmed they'll be no news about the 2020 Mercedes driver line-up until after the summer break.
Lewis Hamilton has a contract for the 2020 season, but
Valtteri Bottas isn't tied down.
Esteban Ocon missed out on a seat last season after he was pushing out of
Racing Point when the take over deal occurred. He's currently sitting in the
Mercedes garage and breathing down Bottas' neck, but he has been linked with a move to Renault.
There's also rumours being thrown around that
Max Verstappen is leaving
Red Bull and Fernando Alonso is interested in a seat at Mercedes or
Ferrari. Though there's probably a hint of 'silly season' starting with those two.
Last year, Mercedes fired early with their contract announcements. The Silver Arrows were all sorted way before
Daniel Ricciardo made his shock move to
Renault and the dealings with Ocon. This might have affected their plans for this season.
"We don't want to put pressure on ourselves to make the driver decision before the summer break," team boss Wolff told Speed Week.
"Esteban is arousing the interest of some teams. We don't want to give him up lightly. But if there is no chance of a place for him with us, we must let him go."
George Russell, also in the Mercedes junior team has a contract with
Williams for the 2020
Formula 1 season.
"George has an ongoing contract with Williams for 2020, and I hope he helps to bring them forward," Wolff added.
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