Esteban Ocon believes he will be in store for a busier 2019 as Mercedes reserve driver after losing his seat at Force India.
The Frenchman was forced off the Formula 1 grid next season with Lance Stroll moving to the team bought by his father this past summer.
As a result, Mercedes have had to put together a contingency plan together for a driver they still consider the likely successor to either Valtteri Bottas or Lewis Hamilton.
“Of course it’s always better to race than to not race,” he told France’s Auto Hebdo. “But I will have a lot of work anyway, it seems I will have even more to do than before.
“I will go to all of the Grands Prix, work on the simulator and we will try to give me as much work as possible on the track. Perhaps I will take part in tests with Force India and Williams as well.
“Mercedes continues to support me and believe in my Grand Prix career, and I hope everything will work out.”
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With Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff ensuring Ocon will be back in F1 in 2020, it is leading many to predict he’ll do so at the wheel of a Silver Arrow taking the same step as Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly have at Ferrari and Red Bull respectively.
