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Formula 1 Belgian GP

Belgian GP Thursday

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Here's Ocon testing for the team in Abu Dhabi back in 2014, in the days when it was called Lotus and its car was ugly

Here's Ocon testing for the team in Abu Dhabi back in 2014, in the days when it was called Lotus and its car was ugly

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Ocon managed to simultaneously be a Mercedes and Renault (/Genii) protege on his rise, so this is a homecoming of sorts.

He said: "I have grown up at Enstone, starting with Lotus in 2010 and then with Renault. I am very attached to this team and everyone who works there; they are the ones who opened the doors of top level motorsport for me."
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And it was clear Nico Hulkenberg had seen this one coming:

Hulkenberg teases "exciting" Belgian GP Thursday amid Ocon rumours

Nico Hulkenberg has teased a "more exciting Thursday" at the Belgian Grand Prix, amid reports Esteban Ocon will take his Renault Formula 1 seat and Mercedes will retain Valtteri Bottas

Hulkenberg teases
Information
We said we were expecting swift Ocon news, and it's here already - he'll replace Nico Hulkenberg at Renault next year. Full story coming up.
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Here's the full story of the Raikkonen/Ericsson non-swap:

Belgian GP: Raikkonen leg worry caused Ericsson Alfa F1 standby call

Kimi Raikkonen says a pulled muscle led to the Alfa Romeo Formula 1 team calling up Marcus Ericsson as a potential Belgian Grand Prix stand-in but he expects to race

Belgian GP: Raikkonen leg worry caused Ericsson Alfa F1 standby call
STUART CODLING:

STUART CODLING: "There’d have been less of this if Alfa had come clean about the reasons for recalling Ericsson straight away. Textbook Barbra Streisand effect."

And it also meant Raikkonen was - once again - the centre of paddock attention a few moments ago. Stuart Codling and Jonathan Noble were on hand.
But as Raikkonen is adamant he's fit to drive, it's going to be a boring weekend for Ericsson

But as Raikkonen is adamant he's fit to drive, it's going to be a boring weekend for Ericsson

Prior to that, there was a lot of intrigue over just who'd be driving the Alfa Romeos this weekend when it became clear that reserve Marcus Ericsson was heading to Spa and skipping his planned IndyCar race as a consequence.

Autosport sources suggested there was a concern over Kimi Raikkonen, and he's now confirmed that a pulled leg muscle led to a question mark over his fitness.

More on that in a moment too.
What that means for his rival for the seat, Esteban Ocon, remains to be seen but could become clear very soon, we're hearing...
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The first big piece of firm news came with the confirmation that Mercedes will be keeping Valtteri Bottas for 2020:

Bottas keeps Mercedes seat for F1 2020, Ocon tipped for Renault

Valtteri Bottas will remain at the Mercedes Formula 1 team in 2020, with Esteban Ocon tipped to rejoin the grid at Renault in place of Nico Hulkenberg

Bottas keeps Mercedes seat for F1 2020, Ocon tipped for Renault

Welcome to a special extra Autosport Live rolling blog from the Belgian Grand Prix preview day at Spa, where over the next three and a bit hours we'll be hearing from the entire Formula 1 field on what's proving to be an extremely busy news day.

By: Matt Beer

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