Toto Wolff excited for Ocon's F1 debut

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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has said that he is delighted by today's confirmation that Esteban Ocon will get his Formula One race début later this month at Spa with Manor Racing.

"We are very pleased that this opportunity has opened up for Esteban, that Manor has again had the confidence to give a chance to a promising young talent and that the good collaboration between Mercedes-Benz and Renault has allowed this to come together," he said.

"We have seen this year that, in the right circumstances, the Manor Racing car is capable of points. Manor is just the right environment for a young driver to get his first experience of F1: a professional, small team that is on a positive upward trend and where the driver can make a real difference.

"Esteban did an exceptional job in the works Mercedes at the Silverstone test and we are excited to see him take his first steps in an F1 race environment."

Ocon is part of the Mercedes junior program, but this season he has also been working as Renault Sport F1's test and development driver and has taken part in practice at Barcelona, Silverstone, the Hungaroring and Hockenheim.

Renault managing director Cyril Abiteboul was also happy by Ocon's promotion to the Manor racing line-up, even though it will leave him looking for a replacement test driver.

"Esteban joining Manor Racing for the last nine races of the season demonstrates the excellent relationship the two teams, Renault Sport Formula One Team and Mercedes-Benz, have maintained for several years," noted Abiteboul.

"It is an outstanding opportunity for Esteban to gather mileage and race experience in a young, stable and very professional team.

"Esteban will be up against a highly rated and quick teammate, which will enable us to evaluate him in a representative environment. I hope this experience will be of great benefit for him and for Renault in the near future."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.