Ocon will "certainly return"

Esteban Ocon looks set to take a year out of Formula One unless he can agree a deal with Williams to race for them in 2019 after Lance Stroll is poised to take his seat at Force India for next season.

Stroll’s father Lawrence took over the team when it fell into administration over the summer and he is thought to be lining up his son for a drive with the midfield team.

It seems absurd that a driver with the talent of Ocon should miss out on a drive in Formula One, considering he is having a very solid second season with Force India following his excellent first year, which saw him score points in every race except two.

Ocon was linked with Renault until it was announced that Daniel Ricciardo would drive for the French team next year, and team boss Cyril Abiteboul has revealed that they would’ve worked with Ocon had he not been restricted by his Mercedes contract.

"We have a serious issue that he is a Mercedes driver," Abiteboul told Nice Matin. "We could work with Esteban in the short or the medium term, but he had to be only a Renault driver.

"Believe me, Esteban is very talented and he will certainly return to Formula 1.”