Mercedes junior Ocon in line for Manor F1 race seat after break

The Mercedes junior has been loaned out to Renault for this year to act as its F1 reserve, and Friday morning's session at Hockenheim was his fourth FP1 outing of the year.

There is now a possibility Ocon could be promoted into a full-time race seat with Manor for the final nine grands prix of the season.

The role is dependent on whether Rio Haryanto can fulfil his contract with the team and find the required funds necessary to ensure he sees out the season.

Haryanto signed for Manor at the beginning of the year, but with only enough investment behind him to carry him through to the conclusion of last weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix.

Doubts emerged as to whether Haryanto would be in the car for this weekend's German Grand Prix, only for manager Piers Hunnisett to strike a last-minute deal to guarantee the 23-year-old's seat for the race.

Hunnisett now has a further four weeks to try to secure the remaining investment necessary to allow Haryanto to complete the season.

Should that not happen, reigning GP3 champion Ocon has emerged as a viable option to replace Haryanto.

In terms of recompense for Ocon's services, it is understood Manor would receive a further deal on its power-unit package given the arrangement it already has in place with Mercedes for employing reserve driver Pascal Wehrlein this year.

There is also the intriguing possibility of Mercedes' two young drivers in Ocon and Wehrlein going head-to-head for several races.

Should Ocon get the drive with Manor and perform credibly it would allow Renault to assess him in a competitive environment ahead of handing him a potential race seat for 2017.

Ocon is known to be highly regarded within the team and firmly in contention to replace either Jolyon Palmer or Kevin Magnussen.

The 19-year-old is currently racing with Mercedes in the DTM, but there are no calendar clashes between now and the end of 2016.