Breaking news
Formula 1
Ocon not getting carried away by Renault speculation
Esteban Ocon insists he is not getting carried away with speculation he is favourite to land a seat at Renault next season – following a strong showing for Mercedes at Silverstone this week.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Jul 14, 2016, 11:27 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Frenchman, who famously beat Max Verstappen to the 2014 European Formula 3 championship, is part of the Mercedes young driver programme but has been loaned to Renault this season for reserve duties.
He finished second overall on the final test of this week's Silverstone test for Mercedes, and is believed to be a strong contender to get moved up to a full-time race seat with Renault for next season.
But despite the paddock rumour mill, Ocon says that his priority right now is focusing the best job he can in his remaining free practice outings.
“My target is to be in F1 next year, and I’m working as much as I can and getting ready for next year,” he explained.
“It’s still early to speak about that, I still have FP1 outings to do. I have to focus there on not on next year.”
Ready for challenge
Ocon added that he feels he now has enough experience under his belt to make the step up F1 if the chance comes up.
"I’m ready to race," he said. "I’ve been around F1 a long time, so I’m ready to race whenever there is an opportunity.”
When asked specifically about the potential to become part of Renault's long-term future, he said: “For sure yeah. The target there is to be champion at some point.
“There’s a lot of work to do, but they want to build their performance back to what they had before. I don’t know if it will happen, but they are working as hard as they can and they deserve to have that at some point.”
Although he is most strongly linked with Renault, Ocon's links with Mercedes could give him opportunities at other teams that have associations with the German car manufacturer.
“I’m a Renault driver, but managed by Mercedes,” he said. “If there is an opportunity anywhere, I would take it.
“The boss is deciding that stuff. I’m focused 100 percent on myself. I trust other people to do that [sort my future] for me.”
Additional reporting by Jamie Klein
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Pirelli plays down fears over test team advantage
Next article Testing tech analysis: Renault's suspension focus
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
More from
Esteban Ocon
Esteban Ocon's F1 career may be ending, but his story is one of success
Formula 1
Formula 1 5 h
Esteban Ocon's F1 career may be ending, but his story is one of success
Rafael Camara to debut in F1 Brazil GP as Esteban Ocon out at Haas
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
19 h
Rafael Camara to debut in F1 Brazil GP as Esteban Ocon out at Haas
More from
Renault F1 Team
Does Daniel Ricciardo regret leaving Red Bull for Renault?
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Does Daniel Ricciardo regret leaving Red Bull for Renault?
On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brazilian GP
On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1
You Ask The Questions: Robert Kubica
Formula 1
You Ask The Questions: Robert Kubica
Latest news
McLaren promotes Gregoire Saucy to WEC Hypercar team for 2027
WEC
WEC WEC 50 min
McLaren promotes Gregoire Saucy to WEC Hypercar team for 2027
Jorge Martin confirms he will travel to Qatar to try to race
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Malaysian GP
1 h
Jorge Martin confirms he will travel to Qatar to try to race
Max Verstappen needs "a conversation" with Red Bull engine after "random" engine braking issues
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
2 h
Max Verstappen needs "a conversation" with Red Bull engine after "random" engine braking issues
Why Daniel Ricciardo is staying away from the F1 paddock
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 3 h
Why Daniel Ricciardo is staying away from the F1 paddock
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1960s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1960s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe