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There is just one seat remaining at Williams for next season and it could be decided at any minute with Esteban Ocon reported getting the role.
It has been a stressful period for the Racing Point Force India driver who has spent the last few months unsure of his Formula One future.
With the pink panthers going into administration midway through the current season, it left the team uncertain where they future lied.
Then Lance Stroll's father Lawrence Stroll bought out the team to secure a future for the Silverstone-based group.
The Canadian has been highly linked to joining his father at Force India for past few weeks now and is still expected to become Sergio Perez's new teammate for the 2019 championship.
Perez signs on the dotted line
On Thursday ahead of the US Grand Prix, Perez agreed on a new deal to extend his stay at Force India.
The Mexican joined Force India in 2014 after just a one-year spell at McLaren when working alongside Jenson Button.
Perez has had a successful time at Force India by achieving five podiums over the last four years in Azerbaijan (twice, one in the 2016 European Grand Prix and the other in this year's Azerbaijan Grand Prix), Monaco, Russia and Bahrain.
And now that leaves just one seat remaining at Force India for next season which now looks to be reserved under Lance's name.
But despite the stress Ocon has had to find a seat for another season in the top tier of racing, it looks to become very possible for the Frenchman to still be in the driver's line-up for 2019.
Motorsport.com reported on Thursday that Williams has a plan to sign Ocon for next year.
Last week, Williams announced their first driver for next season to be George Russell who is currently Mercedes' reserve driver behind Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.
Ocon was asked, ahead of this weekend's race in Austin, his thoughts of Russell securing a seat at Williams for next season.
"It was good to see that George was promoted," he said.
"He's also part of the Mercedes junior programme, and he's signed for multiple years, and that was not our intention to sign for that many years.
"There's still a second seat at Williams, there are still talks, so we'll see where that goes. Congratulations to George. He's in a different way in his career than I am.
"He was not at all stealing my spot, that was not the way it happened."
A talent that cannot go to waste
Not only was Ocon struggling to find a seat but he was also backed by Hamilton and Mercedes' Team Principal Toto Wolff.
Hamilton said in a press conference earlier this season that all teams are missing out on Ocon's promising talent.
Ocon is currently 11th in the driver's championship, just four points behind his teammate Perez.
The 22-year-old has been rather impressive at Force India over the last two seasons by helping the team finish fourth in the constructors' championship with consistent finishes in the points.
However, Ocon does have competition for the Williams seat.
Kubica and co stand in Ocon's way
Current employees at Williams of Sergey Sirotkin and Robert Kubica are bidding to race in F1 next year too.
Sirotkin is competing in his rookie season while Kubica has been Williams' reserve driver throughout 2018.
What Williams will be considering is the money each driver can bring in to the team.
It has been a slow season for Sirotkin and the Williams team as the Russian has spent most races at the back of the grid alongside Stroll.
Williams' racing car designer Paddy Lowe will be hoping to improve the team's performance in the new season that will start in March 2019.
Can Sirotkin's financial backing risk another campaign on the 23-year-old if selected for 2019?
We'll have to just wait and see.
It is big decision times for Williams in their plans for 2019 but they could easily be having worse problems to have.
Do you like the sound of Ocon joining Williams for 2019? Comment below...
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