Wasn’t Valery Markelov [last year finished 2nd to Leclerc in F2, currently 5th this year] linked to a seat at Wlliams, only for his dad (who has been financing his career) to be arrested as part of a corruption investigation earlier this month.
That might have put a spanner in the works.
Now, whether Williams can end their downward spiral and build a working car is another question…
As for Ocon: only Williams, Racing Point, and Toro Rosso, yet to announce a second driver.
With the current consensus saying he’ll be a test/reserve driver for Mercedes next year.
Yeah this is great news to see. The question here is does Ocon bring in enough money as ultimately it does boil to that to some elements.
Part of the problem, Ocon has, is teams are looking long term with their drivers, to develop the car in the run up to potential new regulations in 2021.
It’s why we’ve seen some big moves around the grid (Ricciardo, Kimi, Norris, Leclerc, Gasly, Sainz). It’s about cementing a team for the upcoming years.
So teams want drivers locked down for 2-3 years.
But Bottas’ one-year contract at Mercedes hangs over Ocon’s head. And a team might not want to gamble on a driver who’s long term availability is in doubt, when they know they can get a driver they can keep.
