The brand new Renault Sport F1 Team third driver, Esteban Ocon, will combine his F1 schedule with DTM participation.
Esteban Ocon signed an accord with Renault Sport Formula One Team to be their third driver. Despite this, he remains in Mercedes’ orbital.
According to several sources, the Frenchman could also be Mercedes’ third driver as Pascal Wehrlein goes to Manor as Formula Rapida revealed earlier.
His cooperation with Mercedes continues as he will announce shortly his commitment in the DTM championship, shutting down rumors which claim him to GP2 Series in 2016.
The reason of the preference of DTM instead of GP2 is simple. The 2015 GP3 Series Champion would not be able to fully work on Fridays with Renault if he were in the GP2 Series. His landing in DTM then seems natural, as the French commented himself:
“DTM is my first choice for the 2016 season; Formula 1 is only a dream at the moment.”
Let’s recap: the young 19-year-old French Man, Formula 3 and GP3 champion, will race in DTM next year (probably with ART Grand Prix, thanks to his links with Frédéric Vasseur, ART GP’s team manager and now Renault F1 team director) and will also do some apparitions in Formula One on Fridays during FP1 (probably in Europe and Asia, but not on urban or semi-urban tracks).
Can we consider 2016 as a preparation year to Formula One? Sure we can, as he will take part in the high leveled DTM championship and will be involved in the Formula 1 life with Renault on several Fridays –and perhaps with Mercedes AMG too.
