DTM boss Gerhard Berger is hoping Esteban Ocon won't be racing in the German series next season as it would mean that F1 would be deprived of one of its greatest talents.
Ocon's future in Grand Prix racing for 2019 is looking uncertain following the team's takeover by a Lawrence Stroll-led consortium and the subsequent presence at the outfit of Lance Stroll alongside Sergio Perez next season.
A Mercedes protégé, Ocon has the manufacturer's full support but with the sole exception of a possible move to Williams the Frenchman appears to be facing a dead end in F1, at least for 2019.
The Frenchman enjoyed a stint in DTM back in 2016, but as much as Ocon's presence would benefit his series, Berger hopes the 21-year-old won't be forced to follow fellow Mercedes driver Pascal Wehrlein who reverted back to the German championship this year after failing to find a seat in F1.
"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," Berger told Autosport.
"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."
Ultimately, Mercedes could release Ocon from his contractual obligations in order to open up his F1 possibilities, a move that would interest Red Bull which has yet to decide its Toro Rosso driver line-up.
"It's crazy that a driver like Esteban risks not having a seat next year," Red Bull Racing chief Christian Horner is quoted by Sky Italia.
"But for him at the moment it's not helpful that he's a Mercedes-contracted driver.
"If he was released, he would be an obvious candidate for Toro Rosso, but we cannot invest in a young man tied to one of our opponents, and I think that if the roles were reversed it would be exactly the same," Horner added.
In the interim, Ocon has vowed to fight to remain an F1 driver in 2019.
"We have been in tough situations before and we’ve always overcome those, there was no easy way throughout my career," he wrote on Twitter.
"I can promise that it’s not at this moment I will give up. Motivation is high and my old time rivals are in top cars.
"This makes me hungrier than ever," he added.
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