With the shock departure of Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari in 2025, Mercedes have a vacant position in their driver line-up. As the silly season of F1 ramps up, many drivers have been thrown into the mix to bag that seat at the Silver Arrows. However, on the day that Alpine revealed their 2024 challenger – the A524, Esteban Ocon dropped his name as a possible replacement at Mercedes despite his current contract with the French team.
The Race then speculated about the possibility of the 27-year-old moving to Mercedes and replacing Hamilton. While the French racing driver has committed himself to Alpine for the time being, The Race quoted him as saying, “I’m still a Merc junior driver, still contracted to them. It is how it is, we’ll see.”
Esteban Ocon insists he’s “totally dedicated” to Alpine at the moment, but acknowledged he’s “always had strong links with Mercedes”, who just happen to have a big vacancy for 2025 to fill… pic.twitter.com/KHg1jB1EUH
— The Race (@wearetherace) February 7, 2024
Ocon’s current contract with Alpine, formerly known as Renault, is set to run out at the end of the 2024 season. And his ties with Toto Wolff could be immensely helpful in convincing him to ditch the Enstone project.
Wolff, who is the team principal at Mercedes, was a key player in landing Ocon the Alpine drive after the Frenchman’s 2018 exit from Racing Point (now Aston Martin). More than what Wolff has to offer, it is the lack of what Alpine can that will perhaps decide Ocon’s future.
After a lackluster 2023 season, Alpine finished in P6 in the Constructors’ championship. If yet another dismal season is to follow, Ocon would perhaps be keen to switch allegiances to Mercedes if the offer comes up.
What are the chances of Esteban Ocon potentially joining Mercedes?
2023 was a pretty disappointing year for Alpine. The team could only muster up 120 points during the 22-race calendar and the only highlight they had was a solitary podium that Esteban Ocon grabbed at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Moreover, Ocon’s inter-team rivalry with Pierre Gasly was tense on multiple occasions as well. The two are known to be bitter rivals from their junior racing days and even came together in a double DNF for the team at the 2023 Australian GP.
I’m excited to see these 2, I think it could go 1 of 2 ways. A well combined team which will battle well for 4th, or their issues will not have passed and it’s gonna be some crazy rivalry #FormulaOne #Gasly #Ocon #Alpine pic.twitter.com/Ftay9sIdau
— Cal (@calratcliffe05) December 19, 2022
Hence, Ocon would perhaps be willing to ditch such a hostile environment at the French team and move on to Mercedes if the opportunity arises. With the Silver Arrows still in contention for the top 3 spots, Ocon would be in the running for podiums more often if he makes the move.
However, the path isn’t clear for him yet. Many names have been thrown in the mix. With the likes of Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Mick Schumacher, and Valtteri Bottas vying for that seat alongside George Russell, Ocon has his work cut out for him if he wants to drive for Mercedes in 2025.
