Formula 1: Valtteri Bottas return to Mercedes likely amid Esteban Ocon rumors
By Asher Fair
Amid rumors that Esteban Ocon will drive for Renault in the 2020 Formula 1 season, Valtteri Bottas returning to Mercedes looks more and more likely.
Valtteri Bottas has been the subject of replacement rumors at Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport for the 2020 Formula 1 season pretty much since he signed a one-year contract extension with an additional one-year option with the Brackley-based team last July.
One such rumor was that Esteban Ocon, the Mercedes reserve and test driver for the 2019 season who is also a Mercedes junior driver, would replace the 29-year-old Finn as Lewis Hamilton’s teammate starting in the 2020 season, perhaps even before the 2019 season ended if Bottas was not performing at a high level.
However, Ocon has now been rumored to join Renault as the replacement for Nico Hulkenberg, whose contract with the French manufacturer expires at the end of the 2019 season.
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Mercedes team principal and CEO Toto Wolff has put pressure on Renault managing director Cyril Abiteboul to sign the 22-year-old Frenchman to “restore his gentleman image”.
The two sides had an agreement for Ocon to replace the McLaren-bound Carlos Sainz Jr. at Renault for the 2019 season, but Abiteboul went back on this agreement and opted to sign Daniel Ricciardo to a two-year contract upon the 29-year-old Australian’s decision to leave Aston Martin Red Bull Racing.
Ocon, who spent the 2017 and 2018 seasons driving for Sahara Force India, ended up being replaced by Lance Stroll, the son of the man who led the consortium that bought Force India and changed their name to Racing Point, Lawrence Stroll. As a result, he was left without a ride for the 2019 season.
It seems pretty clear that Wolff wants Ocon in Formula 1, but he is not hesitating to illustrate that he is not quite ready for him at the factory Mercedes team at this point by urging Renault to sign him for the second consecutive season.
Of course, he could always sign Ocon to the factory Mercedes team if a deal with Renault does not work out, but if he is will to give up Bottas and do that anyway, why bother giving Renault the chance to sign Ocon to begin with after what happened last year?
Unless Mercedes junior driver George Russell gets the nod after spending just one season driving for ROKiT Williams Racing, this leaves the door open for Bottas to return to the Silver Arrows for what would be his fourth consecutive season driving for the team, barring the shock signing of Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen, who himself has been the subject of Mercedes rumors over the last few months.
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When the 2020 Formula 1 season rolls around, will Valtteri Bottas be in his fourth consecutive season driving for Mercedes, or will Lewis Hamilton have a different teammate for the third time in the last five years? If Bottas does not return to the team, who will be his replacement? 2020 Silly Season is just getting started, and questions already abound.