F1 Report: Pascal Wehrlein and Esteban Ocon face 'defining battle'

Pascal Wehrlein and Esteban Ocon are heading into a "defining moment" of their Formula 1 careers with a half-season battle at Manor, according to the F1 Report guests.

Ocon will make his debut in the MRT05 at this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix after being drafted in to replace Rio Haryanto, who failed to meet his contractual obligations with the team.

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The Frenchman, last year's GP3 champion, joins fellow Mercedes junior Wehrlein at Manor and team boss Toto Wolff has admitted that the Silver Arrows "will watch their progress with great interest".

Sky F1's Marc Priestley is looking forward to seeing two potential future greats battle side by side.

"This is the future of our sport," he said on the F1 Report, which airs on Wednesday at 8:30pm on Sky Sports F1. "Its a little bit like the Toro Rosso situation where you've got two guys fighting for potentially one of the best seats in Formula 1.

"They know they're linked to Mercedes, they know where that path leads and they're going to be giving it absolutely everything. It's going to be exciting to watch."

Ocon has had to quit his DTM campaign with Mercedes to take the vacant Manor seat and Ben Constanduros, who joined Priestley and Natalie Pinkham in the studio, admitted it may be difficult for the 19-year-old against a 2016 point-scorer in Wehrlein.

"I think it's going to be tough for Ocon against Wehrlein with those 12 races he's already had in the Manor car," the motorsport broadcaster said. "Ocon's got a lot of catching up to do. A DTM car used to be quite similar to a Formula 1 car, or certainly a Formula 3 car, but now they are poles apart in terms of what a driver has to do inside the cockpit."

But Priestley argued that perhaps it would be Wehrlein under more pressure, and that both careers could be shaped by the next three months and nine races at Manor.

"It does put Wehrlein under a little bit of pressure now, which he didn't really have with Haryanto," he added. "People expect him to win because of his experience but what if Ocon comes in and does better? He's got to really deliver.

"For both of these guys now it's a real key point in their careers, a defining moment potentially."

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