The biggest loser from F1's explosive silly season

Less than a month ago, Esteban Ocon appeared a shoo-in for a 2019 Renault Formula 1 seat. The Mercedes junior now faces a desperate wait to see if any opportunities will come his way

Published Aug 23, 2018, 12:00 PM

Formula 1's summer break was supposed to be the time when teams and drivers kicked back on the beach to recharge their batteries after an intense first half of the 2018 campaign.

But no sooner had engines fallen silent after the post-Hungarian Grand Prix test, and factory doors at teams closed for the shutdown, than the driver market silly season exploded in unpredictable fashion.

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Author Jonathan Noble

Jonathan Noble is Motorsport.com’s Formula 1 editor. Having graduated from University of Sussex Jonathan worked for sports news agency Collings Sports reporting on F1, F3, touring cars and other sports, with articles appearing in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Reuters, Autosport and other publications. In 1999 he moved to Haymarket Publishing to become a senior editor at Autosport Special Projects, and one year later he became Autosport’s grand prix editor. In 2015 he moved to Motorsport Network, becoming the F1 editor for Motorsport.com. He is also a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and sits on the FIA Media Council.