Hot summer on the driver market: Bottas is threatened with extinction

The team wants to decide by the end of the month whether the 29-year-old World Cup runner-up will be allowed to stay next year or be replaced by test pilot Esteban Ocon. The decision could give the driver market a huge boost just in time for the return from summer vacation and also influence the future career of Nico Hülkenberg. The Frenchman Ocon is not only considered for the role of Hamilton's colleague at Mercedes, but also as the German's successor at Renault.

Ocon in the sights of several teams “Esteban has a lot of talent, ambition, and he has fought through difficult times,” Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff recently praised the 22-year-old at the race in Hungary. Ocon was able to prove his talent in Formula 1 in 50 races, but had to make way for his son Lance after billionaire Lawrence Stroll took over the Force India team. Boss Wolff doesn't want to expect him to spend another year as a Mercedes replacement either. “We wouldn’t sabotage Esteban’s career. He deserves a chance in Formula 1,” said the Austrian.

Renault is considered interested, especially since veteran Hülkenberg is in his third year with the factory team and is being criticized. “Whenever Nico is on the verge of achieving something great, it slips away from him. He's sabotaging himself," team boss Cyril Abiteboul told the trade magazine Auto Hebdo after Hülkenberg gave away a possible podium with a slip in the rain at Hockenheim. "Let's be honest. At the moment we are examining the options we have for the future. Nico knows that,” Abiteboul added.

Is very popular: Esteban Ocon. © AFP / ANDREJ ISAKOVIC

“It was difficult to swallow,” said Hülkenberg about his team boss’s statements. In 168 Grand Prix, the 31-year-old hasn't even managed a podium place - this unloved record sticks to his image. Hülkenberg says optimistically: “There will also be a future like that. In Formula 1.”

The US team Haas could be an alternative, but the name Ocon is also mentioned there. It is considered unlikely that the racing team will continue in 2020 with the feuding duo Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean, who often get into skirmishes on the track. Who will jump into the Red Bull cockpit? The speculation about a quick move from Hülkenberg to Red Bull or even a comeback by Fernando Alonso as Max Verstappen's teammate is off the table for the time being. The hapless Frenchman Pierre Gasly has to swap cockpits with the Thai Alexander Albon from the sister team Toro Rosso at the race in Belgium at the end of August.

But Red Bull left a back door open for 2020. The 23-year-old Albon will be tested in the remaining nine races of the season to determine his suitability for a longer stay. If he fails, Red Bull would probably have to look at other teams due to the lack of suitable candidates in its own talent factory.

In addition to the return of Sebastian Vettel, who will almost certainly remain loyal to Ferrari, ex-Red Bull protégé Daniel Ricciardo, who was recently lost to Renault, is also considered a candidate. One thing is clear: the hot summer on the driver market has only just begun.

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Hot summer on the driver market: Bottas is threatened with extinction

While Lewis Hamilton is enjoying the sweet island life under the Caribbean sun during the Formula 1 summer break, his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas is not spending his time off anywhere near as relaxed. The Finn has to worry about his future in the Silver Arrows due to fluctuating performance.

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