Midweek Wrap: Ocon to Renault, 22 Races, KMag Misses the Mark

Ocon to Renault? Red Bull dropping Pierre Gasly aside, it's actually been a fairly quiet summer break for silly season rumours, but

finally it seems like things are picking up, with Esteban Ocon supposedly set for a move to Renault in 2020.

Assuming it's true, it's big news for both Ocon and Valtteri Bottas, who will presumably be staying at Mercedes as a result. Toto Wolff must think it's better to stick with a known quantity in Bottas, with the added ease of mind that Ocon will still have a place on the grid, and it's not a bad place to land.

While the car isn't that quick, he'll be a French driver at a French team, with a very decent measuring stick in Daniel Ricciardo alongside, and who knows? Maybe Renault will get their act together one of these years…

On the flip side, such a move leaves Nico Hulkenberg out in the cold – but for how long? Obviously the jury is still out on Alex Albon, but he'd be a definite upgrade on Pierre Gasly in the number two slot at Red Bull, while if the rumours surrounding Haas are true, they might finally get a driver who can keep Guenther Steiner's blood pressure under 120/80.

That said, none of this has been confirmed yet, but as soon as it is, it's clear the dominoes will start to fall. Interesting times ahead.

Spanish Grand Prix, 22 Races Confirmed for 2020: It's official, the Spanish GP, once seemingly left for dead in the wake of the Dutch GP's return, is back for another go-around, which in turn expands next year's calendar to a record 22 races. On one hand, it's nice to see the Circuit de Catalunya make it 30 straight years hosting a F1 GP, but on the other, all the concerns about oversaturation will now definitely be put to the test.

Both in terms of the wellbeing of team personnel, and the interest of fans, we could be about to reach a breaking point – and if that is the case, here's hoping Liberty actually take notice and reduces the calendar in future seasons.

Engine Freeze on the Way? A piece of news I think has gone somewhat under the radar, apparently Cyril Abiteboul wants the FIA to hit pause on engine development come 2021 – with both Toto Wolff and Helmut Marko in agreement.

While I get why Wolff would agree to this (diminishing returns and all), and even Marko to a lesser extent, I'm not sure why Cyril would propose this in the first place. The Renault engine still has a long

If there was a freeze in 2021, that would mean the French manufacturer would have roughly 15 months to get their act together – I just don't see it. They'd be better off pushing for a new engine formula than betting on a catch-up on this one, methinks.

Magnussen Not Happy with the Media: An interesting tidbit from Kevin Magnussen this week, who has blamed "what’s going wrong in this media world" for the continued fascination with his famous exchange with Nico Hulkenberg. As a peripheral member of the F1 "media world" myself, I would argue he's missing the point.

Professional sport has been and always will be for public consumption, and that extends to the post-race interviews – themselves a standard practice for at least the past 30 years. If you don't want something you said consumed by the fans – whether they find it funny, offensive or whatever – maybe just don't say it with a camera in your face?

https://www.grandprix247.com/2019/08/26/ocon-to-replace-hulkenberg-at-renault-for-2020/