Esteban Ocon says that he was “very close” to signing a deal with Mercedes which would have seen him replace Valtteri Bottas as partner to Lewis Hamilton for 2020. The Frenchman was previously a member of Mercedes’ junior driver programme, but after being overlooked for a seat for the upcoming season, he moved to Renault instead to replace the outgoing Nico Hulkenberg. Article continues under video Although wary of going into too much detail, he reveals that the Mercedes seat discussions went down to the wire before Toto Wolff made the decision to go with Bottas. “It was,” he told N when asked how close he came to signing a F1 deal with the Silver Arrows. Hamilton title could...
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