Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes Esteban Ocon's plans for the 2019 season rely on what Williams look to do with their driver line-up for next season.
Lance Stroll is almost definitely set for a Force India move, taking Ocon's seat ironically, and his seat looks to have been taken by Mercedes junior driver George Russell.
Sergey Sirotkin's future at Williams looks very uncertain, with the Russian driver only scoring one point so far this season.
Ocon will be eyeing Sirotkin's seat at Williams, in a desperate attempt to stay in the Formula One paddock.
The Frenchman is currently contracted with Mercedes and his boss Wolff has admitted that the final decision on Ocon's future is out of their control.
"(There is) no (update) - I think we've just kind of settled in the situation where we might need to find the right seat for him in 2020 and have a gap year and integrate him a lot in the team, and he can contribute to the team performance," the Mercedes boss told Crash.net.
"He and us, we've kind of got our head around it, even though it's not perfect, unless a last-minute opportunity opens up at Williams. But it's not in our hands. It's for the team (Williams) to decide."
Claire Williams, deputy team principal of Williams, has insisted the team are in "no rush" to make a conclusive decision about their line-up and Wolff is not expecting a decision "any time soon".
"I think Claire will take a decision that is in the best interests of Williams commercially and driver-wise, and she hasn't come to that point yet," Wolff added. "It's not going to happen any time soon."
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