‘Just to clarify that one’ – Williams team boss explains Esteban Ocon seat fitting

Esteban Ocon and James Vowles paths ‘won’t cross” in the near future

Yes, Esteban Ocon did have a seat fitting at Williams, but no it wasn’t with the intention of putting him in the car in place of Logan Sargeant after the summer break.

Rather, team boss James Vowles says, when it comes to drivers, Williams’ focus is solely on “’25 and beyond”.

Williams: ‘For ’25 and beyond on drivers, nothing else’

According to reports, Williams were considering making a mid-season driver swap and replacing the under-fire Sargeant, who has yet to score a point this season, with Ocon.

It was suggested that as he is leaving Alpine at the end of the year, the Enstone team would be open to swapping him out for reserve driver Jack Doohan, one of their 2025 candidates.

That Ocon reportedly had seat fitting with Williams only threw fuel on the fire.

But according to Vowles, more has been made it than it warrants as Williams are not looking for a replacement driver, rather he was evaluating Ocon’s build with an eye to a possible 2025 drive alongside Alex Albon.

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“Esteban came in for, not a real seat fit, but I wanted to evaluate him for 2025 and 2026,” Vowles told Autosport.

“I needed to do that because I need to actually ascertain whether he fit in the car or not. Because he’s, as is Alex, a tall chap, but his dimensions are a bit difficult in certain dimensions.

“Everything we are doing at the moment is – just to clarify that one – for ’25 and beyond on drivers, nothing else.

“He was definitely a consideration. I’ve known him for many years, obviously, at Mercedes, [he] fell under myself and Toto [Wolff] and Gwen’s [Lagrue, Mercedes driver program advisor, ed.] management and looked after him.

“He’s been mighty quick. You don’t outqualify Fernando [Alonso] unless you are mighty. If you create the right environment around him, he can be very strong. So that’s why he was a consideration.”

‘Was’ being the word Vowles used several times, the team boss revealing their paths “won’t cross” amidst reports Ocon’s on the verge of signing with Haas.

“I think where he is at the moment our paths won’t cross and I think it’s a shame because there’s certain bits that I can see would work,” he added.

“But other bits that I just don’t think will work in the time frame we have as well. But what I can say is I’m confident he will have a very successful future in Formula 1.”

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