Williams 'working hard' to keep Ocon in F1 in 2019

Williams announced last week that the current championship leader of Formula 2 would defend the colors of Grove in 2019. Strong recruitment which moves away from the 2018 trend, symbolized by the use of two drivers who bring a substantial budget: Sergey Sirotkin and Lance stroll. 

If the Canadian will take the path of Force India, the Russian remains in the race to keep his seat. The list of candidates for the second Williams seat also includes Esteban Ocon, protected Mercedes just like Russell. 

The Frenchman has already gone to Grove to visit the facilities and meet the management, and discussions are continuing to allow him to find a starting role in 2019. 

« Having someone of Esteban's talent, even if only for one season, I'm open to it, declared Claire Williams, deputy team principal of the eponymous team. We recruited George because we could sign an agreement that covers several seasons. This allows us to build for the future.

We have been working hard for six months to ensure that our 2019 budget allows us to hire drivers on merit, which is what we need to get the team back on track. George's recruitment underlines these intentions. 

For the second bucket, we do not have the same room for maneuver. There are other factors to consider. We would like to be able to proceed as we did with the first pilot but the road to getting there is longer. 

We are working hard to ensure that Esteban remains in F1 next year when coming to us. We are doing everything in our power to make this happen. ».

Ocon confirmed that he still had a small hope of being on the grid next year with Williams and refused to see Russell's promotion as a disavowal for his career.

« This doesn't change much in my situation. explained the Norman from Austin where the United States Grand Prix is ​​being held this weekend. People interpreted it as if he was overtaking me in the Mercedes hierarchy when that is not the case at all. 

Already, I think it's a good thing that the Mercedes program manages to place a driver because it was a little complicated with me and Pascal (Wehrlein, Editor’s note). It's good news to see a very good driver arrive in F1. 

Afterwards, there is still a seat at Williams so we will see what can be done. There are still discussions. Even if I don't ride next year, we see good possibilities for 2020, but we don't know what can happen for next year. Everything can change so quickly in F1… »

Ocon is well placed to know this.