Ocon drives in 2020 for Renault. Bottas stays another year with Mercedes.

Published on 30 August 2019 by Kees-Jan Koster

The puzzle pieces with regards to the Formula 1 driver seats for next year are coming more and more together. Renault announced that Esteban Ocon will become the 2020 teammate of Daniel Ricciardo. Furthermore, Mercedes announced that Valtteri Bottas will keep his seat for next year.

Just turned 30 years old, Bottas will be driving for his fourth season next to Lewis Hamilton with the ‘Silberpfeilen’. Ocon, the current test- and reserve driver for Mercedes, goes elsewhere and takes over the seat of Nico Hulkenberg at Renault. For the Frenchman this means his return to Formula 1, after being on the side-line for a year. Before that Ocon drove 50 races for Manor and then Force India / Racing Point, while he was the test driver for Renault in 2016.

In turn, Hulkenburg, is still without a seat for next year. Allegedly Haas is interested in the German to take over the seat of Romain Grosjean. But that has not been confirmed.