Bottas stays at Mercedes, Ocon joins Renault

Valtteri Bottas will remain as Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes team-mate next year while Esteban Ocon will replace Nico Hulkenberg at Renault, the teams announced Thursday.

Frenchman Ocon's return to a race seat after a season spent as test and reserve driver with Mercedes was announced soon after the champions Mercedes had decided to give Bottas a fourth year alongside the five-time champion Hamilton.

On a busy first day back after the European summer shutdown, the Formula One paddock was alive with transfer talk and other speculation including a likely return to action by Marcus Ericsson at Alfa Romeo ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Ocon has been signed on a two-year contract as team-mate for Daniel Ricciardo in a bid to boost the French team's competitiveness, a move that has left the widely-liked Hulkenberg in search of a vacant seat for 2020.

"First and foremost, I am very proud to become a Renault driver," said Ocon, formerly a test driver with the team.

"I have grown up at