zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
Bottas Re-Signed To Mercedes, Ocon Back At Renault, And Raikkonen May Not Be Racing: Belgian GP Updates
Bottas Re-Signed To Mercedes, Ocon Back At Renault, And Raikkonen May Not Be Racing: Belgian GP Updates-June 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:08

Image for article titled Bottas Re-Signed To Mercedes, Ocon Back At Renault, And Raikkonen May Not Be Racing: Belgian GP Updates

is back from summer break and racing at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend, which means it’s time for all those summer break rumors to start coming to a head. And if you just woke up wondering what the hell is going on in the F1 paddock, you’re not alone. Thankfully, we’ve got you covered.

Folks have not been kind to ol’ Valtteri lately. His lack of performance compared to teammate Lewis Hamilton has been massively critiqued, and there was a shot that he might not actually be returning to Mercedes for 2020, to be replaced by a potentially more promising talent.

That has proved not to be the case. Bottas is back, according to , but it looks like his performance will once again be reevaluated at the end of next season.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff made a big to-do about how difficult it was to decide between Bottas and Esteban Ocon , the young driver who had been rumored to be taking Bottas’ place.

I have to say I think the team made a good call here. Ocon isn’t part of the 2019 F1 grid and so any decisions made regarding him would be a little too soon. Mercedes can at least guarantee its driver will have consistent experience.

But Esteban Ocon Goes To Renault

It was pretty much guaranteed that Ocon would be back in F1 next year, but we just didn’t know where. Now we do. He’ll be .

Now this is a more reasonable place for Ocon’s big return. Renault has been struggling a bit this year, yes—but it makes sense for the French driver to ease back into the swing of things without all the pressure that would come with racing for the biggest team on the grid.

, I haven’t ever really understood the hype around Hulkenberg. He’s fine I guess, but he’s been just fine pretty much ever since he made his way into F1. It’s refreshing to see a promising young talent take a seat that has been consistent but largely mediocre.

That’s not to say Hulkenberg is totally out of the F1 picture yet. He’s on the may be calling up should Romain Grosjean be ousted from his seat next season, according to . The other was, embarrassingly, Ocon himself. So the battle for the Haas seat will be coming down to Hulkenberg and Grosjean.

Kimi Raikkonen May Sit This One Out

This one really set off a domino effect: Raikkonen has confirmed that he during the off-season and may not be fit enough to compete in the race itself (the key there being “may not;”he still very well could get behind the wheel). So, Alfa Romeo had to call in their reserve driver, Marcus Ericsson.

Ericsson, though, is currently a full-time IndyCar driver. By heading out to Spa, he won’t be racing for Schmidt-Peterson Motorsports this weekend at Portland. That means his seat will have to be filled for the weekend—and SPM confirms they’ve signed on Conor Daly for the ride, reports.

It isn’t as though Ericsson is taking a huge leap here; his debut IndyCar season has been a rough one, and Alfa Romeo is actually in a position to score points this year. It’d be silly to not take advantage of all your options here.

That’s a hell of a lot of big news for a Thursday morning, huh?

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
F1 Driver Sebastian Vettel Says Obviously So Much, It's Obviously Amusing (Obviously)
F1 Driver Sebastian Vettel Says Obviously So Much, It's Obviously Amusing (Obviously)
If there’s one thing that be a ray of sunshine on a and cheer us up, it’s a good racing highlight reel. This one is sixteen minutes of Ferrari Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel saying “obviously” in interviews. Enjoy. It’s obviously entertaining how often Seb says “obviously,” obviously. Honestly, I...
Jun 13, 2026
Crush Lap Times, Not Pedestrians With The Rad New Ford Mustang GT4 Race Car
Crush Lap Times, Not Pedestrians With The Rad New Ford Mustang GT4 Race Car
By far the best things to come out of SEMA that don’t involve are the race cars that somehow sneak into the show. Naturally, Ford’s latest turn-key racer, the Mustang GT4, looks to be shined up for the show but mostly built for go—just like we like it. If you...
Jun 13, 2026
Ross Brawn Denies He's Formula One's New Sporting Boss
Ross Brawn Denies He's Formula One's New Sporting Boss
Slow your ultra-lightweight, high-downforce roll, everybody. Ross Brawn may not be heading up the sporting side of Formula One as reports suggested yesterday. Brawn has denied the rumors to the , claiming that Liberty Media hasn’t owned the sport long enough to start making major leadership changes. Brawn confirmed that...
Jun 13, 2026
Ross Brawn To Become New Sporting Boss Of F1, But Bernie's Not Leaving Yet: Reports
Ross Brawn To Become New Sporting Boss Of F1, But Bernie's Not Leaving Yet: Reports
Ross Brawn, a man known as the behind the Benetton, Ferrari, Brawn GP and Mercedes teams in the past, has signed a contract to become the new sporting boss of Formula One, reports . But sorry! Current CEO of F1 and Bernie Ecclestone isn’t leaving yet. Brawn has already signed...
Jun 13, 2026
Dieselgate Killed Volkswagen's World Rally Championship Team
Dieselgate Killed Volkswagen's World Rally Championship Team
Volkswagen confirmed it will drop its World Rally Championship program in 2017 in order to focus on customer racing and new technology, per a company . The Volkswagen Motorsport team won four championships in a row during the four years they were a full-time manufacturer team in WRC. Frank Welch,...
Jun 13, 2026
Not Only Did This Funny Car Get Airborne In The World's Gnarliest Wheelie, It Won
Not Only Did This Funny Car Get Airborne In The World's Gnarliest Wheelie, It Won
This has to be one of the most incredible code brown moments I’ve seen in a long time. Cruz Pedregon was lined up next to Robert Hight, and about 330 feet into his run, the nose of his funny car lifted off the ground, as noted by. Pedregon kept the...
Jun 13, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved