Renault has confirmed that its newly-appointed third and reserve driver Esteban Ocon is “on loan” from Mercedes.
Ocon has previously been associated with the Enstone-based outfit. The Frenchman was on the Lotus F1 junior programme and tested for the team, as well as driving in FP1 for the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Despite winning the 2014 FIA European Formula 3 Championship, he lost his Lotus backing for 2015. However, during his title-winning 2015 GP3 campaign he was picked up by Mercedes, joining its junior programme.
He remains under contract with Mercedes but was unveiled as Renault’s third and reserve driver at its team launch event in Paris on Wednesday.
"Esteban is great new addition for us for this year, and we are very excited to be taking part in his development,” Renault Sport managing director Cyril Abiteboul told media at the launch.
"For the time being he is on a loan basis, it is happening in football – and then who knows?"
Explaining that he is still part of the Mercedes programme, Ocon said: "My career has been managed by Mercedes since the end of 2014 and I became a full Mercedes junior at the end of last season, after winning the GP3 series.
"Even in my new role as third driver for Renault, I remain a long term member of the Mercedes family, and I have to thank Mercedes and Renault for making this possible. There are some opportunities out there to race as well this season but nothing has been decided yet.
"It is an incredible opportunity to be guided and supported by Toto (Wolff) and Mercedes – and to have the honour of representing a brand like Renault in Formula 1."
