Mercedes set to support SURPRISE F1 star in finding new team

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Mercedes set to support SURPRISE F1 star in finding new team

The French driver will leave Alpine at the end of the year

Rhys Thomas

Wednesday 5 June 2024 17:57

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Mercedes will work with Esteban Ocon to keep the French driver on the grid after it was announced he would be leaving Alpine at the end of the 2024 season.

The 27-year-old will depart the Enstone team after five years racing together in F1, though their relationship extends back to Ocon's teenage years.

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Ocon has enjoyed some success at the team formerly known as Renault, including a shock win in Hungary in 2021.

Recently, though, the relationship has become stretched. Ocon's clumsy collision with teammate Pierre Gasly in Monaco piled on the tension, though this is not thought to be the reason the parties have decided to split.

Alpine have made a poor start to the 2024 F1 season

Esteban Ocon recorded a DNF in Monaco after colliding with Pierre Gasly

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Ocon first joined the Mercedes F1 junior team in 2015, when CEO Toto Wolff also became his manager, and in 2019 Ocon acted as Mercedes' driver in F1 when he found himself out of a seat.

As per his own admission earlier this year, Ocon remains a Mercedes junior driver, and added that "even if I'm not that junior anymore, I'm still contracted with them at some stage."

With Ocon again looking for a drive, it is reported by the Mirror that the German team will step in to help secure the Frenchman a seat where necessary.

“Mercedes, though, will still support Ocon despite his impending Alpine exit," Daniel Moxon writes.

Toto Wolff was hired as Esteban Ocon's manager in 2015

"And Mirror Sport understands that the team will continue to work with the Frenchman and do their best to ensure he still has a place on the grid next year.

“The 27-year-old continues to be supported by the team and they will be part of the efforts to find the driver his next home on the F1 grid.”