Silly Season 2018/2019

[Jolle]

I think there isn’t a better place to mature as a driver then Williams. Somehow their team atmosphere and trust they put I their young drivers is not found anywhere else on the grid apart from Sauber. Just look at their track record: Coulthard, Webber, Rosberg and now Bottas. It would be a shame if they have to choose just money above talent again while with Ocon there is a possibility to have both.

[Ground Effect]

One seat at Williams could be free for Mercedes, but then again another Russian could make them an offer they can't refuse.

[Raleigh]

Mazepin? Yeah, his father was trying to buy out Force India, so he will be looking for a 2019 F1 seat and has a lot of money.

[Schuttelberg]

The very fact that Ocon might not be in F1 is worrisome. I see a lot of absolutely terrible reason almost justifying why it would be okay for him not to be there? I think that it would be one big farce!

The guy was on Max Verstappen level in junior formula. Max himself was not on podiums/winning races till he got in a Red Bull. Honestly, Red Bull have treated some of their juniors like piss but they are by far the only one's who have enough guts to back their program. There would be no logical reason for Mercedes to not put Ocon in one of their cars considering the investment they put in into their juniors. It's okay to be ruthless and cut throat but you have to give them a fair chance. I don't think Wehrlein did much wrong either.

Just to clear up, I think Bottas is worth his place as a second driver at Mercedes. I think he's done a solid job this year and been unfortunate to not have a few results/wins go his way. But, does his potential or performance justify any of the Merc juniors being left high and dry and all that investment go down the drain? Not in my opinion.

[Zynerji]

The very fact that Ocon might not be in F1 is worrisome. I see a lot of absolutely terrible reason almost justifying why it would be okay for him not to be there? I think that it would be one big farce!

The guy was on Max Verstappen level in junior formula. Max himself was not on podiums/winning races till he got in a Red Bull. Honestly, Red Bull have treated some of their juniors like piss but they are by far the only one's who have enough guts to back their program. There would be no logical reason for Mercedes to not put Ocon in one of their cars considering the investment they put in into their juniors. It's okay to be ruthless and cut throat but you have to give them a fair chance. I don't think Wehrlein did much wrong either.

Just to clear up, I think Bottas is worth his place as a second driver at Mercedes. I think he's done a solid job this year and been unfortunate to not have a few results/wins go his way. But, does his potential or performance justify any of the Merc juniors being left high and dry and all that investment go down the drain? Not in my opinion.

Hamilton will retire if he wins this year, then Ocon/Bottas at Merc in 2019.

[Jolle]

The very fact that Ocon might not be in F1 is worrisome. I see a lot of absolutely terrible reason almost justifying why it would be okay for him not to be there? I think that it would be one big farce!

The guy was on Max Verstappen level in junior formula. Max himself was not on podiums/winning races till he got in a Red Bull. Honestly, Red Bull have treated some of their juniors like piss but they are by far the only one's who have enough guts to back their program. There would be no logical reason for Mercedes to not put Ocon in one of their cars considering the investment they put in into their juniors. It's okay to be ruthless and cut throat but you have to give them a fair chance. I don't think Wehrlein did much wrong either.

Just to clear up, I think Bottas is worth his place as a second driver at Mercedes. I think he's done a solid job this year and been unfortunate to not have a few results/wins go his way. But, does his potential or performance justify any of the Merc juniors being left high and dry and all that investment go down the drain? Not in my opinion.

Don’t forget, we are only seeing them perform from the outside in all different cars. Mercedes in this case has all the data and a good sim reference plus they are probably working with a development matrix. A tenth or two behind on your matrix won’t show up during GP weekends in a FI.

Mercedes, like the other successful top teams are very loyal to their drivers and are not afraid to let their talent mature over years. If Ocon is really that good, he’ll get his chance, when he’s ready. And compared to VER: it’s a bit like ROS and HAM in F3, it was his second year and had Renault 2.0 under his belt as well while VER came fresh out of karting.

[Big Tea]

Something worth remembering too, which we all know but sometimes do not factor in.
When a team like Mercedes 'has' a driver, they not only arrange who they drive for, they also guide who they do Not drive for.

[NathanOlder]

Just to clear up, I think Bottas is worth his place as a second driver at Mercedes. I think he's done a solid job this year and been unfortunate to not have a few results/wins go his way. But, does his potential or performance justify any of the Merc juniors being left high and dry and all that investment go down the drain? Not in my opinion.

So Bottas is worth his place, and it looks the only way to keep Ocon in right now is to boot Bottas out of F1.

I think your statement there shows the troubled situation Merc are currently in. Red Bull chop and changed a lot over the last 5 years as they have had plenty of crap drivers who never performed when it mattered and when your team are only fighting for podiums and a lucky win here and there its easy to make changes.
Mercedes are doing their best to look after their kids and not upset a winning formula while they fight for titles.
How many changes did Red Bull make between 09-13, Webber effectively a number 2 was the block that caused Liuzzi, Speed, Alguersuari, Buemi, Vergne to never go anywhere.

And retirements probably helped Vettel and Ricciardo progress too. They filled seats that were kept by old has beens who should have retired a year or 2 earlier.

On all of that I feel Merc are doing a fantastic job with their young drivers especially as Merc only have 2 seats where as RedBull have 4.

[Sieper]

Merc has an option to put a driver on more or less 6 seats, If they feel Ocon is a great driver they will find a place. From where comes the impression schuttelberg that Max only won races in a red bull? He won 6 races in a row (two weekends all 3) that was the final confirmation/made Helmut Marko decide to give him his chance in Formula1 in 2015.

[NathanOlder]

The very fact that Ocon might not be in F1 is worrisome. I see a lot of absolutely terrible reason almost justifying why it would be okay for him not to be there? I think that it would be one big farce!

The guy was on Max Verstappen level in junior formula. Max himself was not on podiums/winning races till he got in a Red Bull. Honestly, Red Bull have treated some of their juniors like piss but they are by far the only one's who have enough guts to back their program. There would be no logical reason for Mercedes to not put Ocon in one of their cars considering the investment they put in into their juniors. It's okay to be ruthless and cut throat but you have to give them a fair chance. I don't think Wehrlein did much wrong either.

Just to clear up, I think Bottas is worth his place as a second driver at Mercedes. I think he's done a solid job this year and been unfortunate to not have a few results/wins go his way. But, does his potential or performance justify any of the Merc juniors being left high and dry and all that investment go down the drain? Not in my opinion.

Don’t forget, we are only seeing them perform from the outside in all different cars. Mercedes in this case has all the data and a good sim reference plus they are probably working with a development matrix. A tenth or two behind on your matrix won’t show up during GP weekends in a FI.

Mercedes, like the other successful top teams are very loyal to their drivers and are not afraid to let their talent mature over years. If Ocon is really that good, he’ll get his chance, when he’s ready. And compared to VER: it’s a bit like ROS and HAM in F3, it was his second year and had Renault 2.0 under his belt as well while VER came fresh out of karting.

Ocon was a rookie in Euro F3 like Max.

[Jolle]

The very fact that Ocon might not be in F1 is worrisome. I see a lot of absolutely terrible reason almost justifying why it would be okay for him not to be there? I think that it would be one big farce!

The guy was on Max Verstappen level in junior formula. Max himself was not on podiums/winning races till he got in a Red Bull. Honestly, Red Bull have treated some of their juniors like piss but they are by far the only one's who have enough guts to back their program. There would be no logical reason for Mercedes to not put Ocon in one of their cars considering the investment they put in into their juniors. It's okay to be ruthless and cut throat but you have to give them a fair chance. I don't think Wehrlein did much wrong either.

Just to clear up, I think Bottas is worth his place as a second driver at Mercedes. I think he's done a solid job this year and been unfortunate to not have a few results/wins go his way. But, does his potential or performance justify any of the Merc juniors being left high and dry and all that investment go down the drain? Not in my opinion.

Don’t forget, we are only seeing them perform from the outside in all different cars. Mercedes in this case has all the data and a good sim reference plus they are probably working with a development matrix. A tenth or two behind on your matrix won’t show up during GP weekends in a FI.

Mercedes, like the other successful top teams are very loyal to their drivers and are not afraid to let their talent mature over years. If Ocon is really that good, he’ll get his chance, when he’s ready. And compared to VER: it’s a bit like ROS and HAM in F3, it was his second year and had Renault 2.0 under his belt as well while VER came fresh out of karting.

Ocon was a rookie in Euro F3 like Max.

My bad, he did two seasons of formula Renault indeed and only two F3 races.

[Raleigh]

Both drivers were indeed rookies to Euro F3.

Esteban had done 2 seasons in FR 2.0 before going into F3 and Max did the Florida Winter Series which runs F3 cars. I'd say that's a fairly equal level of preparation.

Max won 10 races to Esteban's 9, between them they dominated the season but Max was involved in a number of accidents costing points where Ocon just racked up the wins and podiums to take the title 67 points clear of 3rd placed Verstappen (split by Tom Blomqvist, who only won 6 races but was more experienced/consistent than Max).

[ScottB]

Merc has an option to put a driver on more or less 6 seats, If they feel Ocon is a great driver they will find a place. From where comes the impression schuttelberg that Max only won races in a red bull? He won 6 races in a row (two weekends all 3) that was the final confirmation/made Helmut Marko decide to give him his chance in Formula1 in 2015.

Not really though, as we can see, they can’t stop Stroll Snr picking his son and Perez, nor can they stop Williams sticking at least one valuable Russian in their cars, much like Ferrari wanted Giovinazzi in alongside Leclerc, but Sauber’s owners wanted to persist with Ericsson.

Only Red Bull have a junior team that will answer to their beck and call. The others have teams they can influence to degrees, but clearly not to the same extent, as if they could, Ocon wouldn’t be going anywhere and Russell and Giovinazzi would be getting set for their debut F1 seasons.

[Sieper]

I actually do think that a lot of the Ocon reputation is because he raced Max.He hasn’t outraced Perez and allthough I do expect merc to find him a seat it indeed isn’t a given. Would be very surprised though If we don’t see him next year. But then again, I think Wehrlein is a big talent as well.

[Ground Effect]

I actually do think that a lot of the Ocon reputation is because he raced Max.He hasn’t outraced Perez and allthough I do expect merc to find him a seat it indeed isn’t a given. Would be very surprised though If we don’t see him next year. But then again, I think Wehrlein is a big talent as well.

I think Ocon and Max are on the same level. They would give each other a hard time in the same car. Ocon is only in his 2nd full season in F1, he was on Checo's pace straight away, who is regarded highly, gotten a couple of podiums in a Force India (Checo, that is). He's out-qualifying him now, kind of what Max is doing with Ricciardo. Ocon is the real deal.