Esteban Ocon says that there are “good discussions going on” as he tries to secure his Formula 1 future after parting ways with Alpine for 2025. Ocon is a candidate for those teams yet to confirm their full line-ups, with Sauber/Audi, Haas and Williams among the obvious choices. He remains an outside bet for Mercedes, but only if Kimi Antonelli’s arrival is postponed by a year.
Along with Carlos Sainz, the Frenchman is one of the key players on the market as the final pieces fall into place for 2025.
“There are good discussions going on at the moment,” he said. “I’m happy with how this is going.
“Obviously, we will announce when the time is right. There’s nothing to announce yet.
“But I let my management team deal with all that, and I’m very focused on what I have to do on the track this weekend.
“There are a lot of things to look deep inside. There are a lot of different projects all around the grid. And yeah, it’s important to look well inside that, to see how things are going to evolve in the future. And yeah, that’s what we’re discussing.”
Esteban Ocon (FRA) Alpine F1 Team. Alpine F1 Team Film Day, Tuesday 20th February 2024. Sakhir, Bahrain.
Ocon wants positive environment in next team
Asked what he was looking for in his next team, he said: “I think the most important thing is to have an environment where you feel supported, you feel good, you feel like everyone is working for one goal, and to have a good environment.
“There’s nothing really that you need to ask for more. Obviously, what’s important is the project and what’s the target for the future. But yeah, if there are all the good ingredients for a successful future, there’s no way that you should say no to that.”
Carlos Sainz has said that 2026 will be a “lottery” because nobody knows how the power units will compare.
Ocon acknowledged that there’s much to consider, making an intriguing comparison with Formula E levels of competitiveness between teams.
“I think ’26 is going to be interesting,” he said. “Because there’s going to be a lot less freedom on the aero side, and from there who is going to have the best suspension, the best powertrain? All of this is going to play a big role in terms of performance.
“I don’t think it’s going to be like Formula E, but if it is closer to Formula E then we should be seeing a very close grid. And I’m super excited looking at that.
“I heard some rumours that FIA said they were really going to close that to the maximum to make close racing. So that should be interesting and should be very nice for the drivers.”
