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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has shot down suggestions that Esteban Ocon is in the frame for a Mercedes seat in 2018. Ocon is a Mercedes junior driver, along with fellow F1 driver Pascal Wehrlein and GP3 competitor George Russell.
The Frenchman made his debut in Formula 1 in Belgium of 2016 for Manor Racing and closed out the season with them. He received the call-up to Force India over former teammate Wehrlein for 2017, who signed for Sauber after Manor dropped off the grid.
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Ocon was quickly ruled out of the 2017 seat at Mercedes when Nico Rosberg announced that he was retiring. Now at Force India, the 20-year-old has been performing well, scoring points in every race but one.
Mercedes is yet to announce who will feature in its line-up for 2018. With Valtteri Bottas the favourite to retain his seat, drivers such as Fernando Alonso have been linked. When asked if Ocon was a contender, Wolff ruled him out.
"No, he's too young. He's a good guy, and he has a future, but we cannot put him alongside Lewis Hamilton yet," he added. Ocon arrives in Austria on the back of a controversial clash with teammate Sergio Perez in Baku.
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A star of the future for sure