Gerhard Berger: Not having Ocon in F1 "would be complete shame"

With options getting slimmer by the by the way, it could be that Esteban Ocon is without a seat in Formula One next season, forcing him back to his former racing class, the DTM, and that would be a shame according to the DTM's boss.

Ocon still has some options in F1, but they're not great. Toro Rosso, for example, still have two open slots for next season, with Pierre Gasly heading to Red Bull and Brendon Hartley not having convinced in his first full season. 

However, the Frenchman's ties to Mercedes have had a negative effect on many teams, with the likes of Renault, Red Bull and McLaren all admitting they didn't want a Mercedes driver in one of their cars, despite Ocon's very obvious talent.

Now, we could see him exiting the Formula One, despite him being one of the most promising young drivers on the grid. Not even DTM-boss Gerhard Berger wants Ocon to come back to the touring car championship.

"No, I would not like to have Ocon because it means he would not be in Formula 1 and I think it would be a complete shame for Formula 1 to lose such a talent," the Austrian told Motorsport.

"It should be the other way around [with DTM drivers going to F1].

"We would like to position our drivers in F1 because they are good enough."

After last season, Pascal Wehrlein, another Mercedes junior driver, was also forced to step back to DTM after running out of options in F1. Let's hope Ocon doesn't undergo the same fate!