F1 Gossip: Ocon came ‘very close’ to 2020 Mercedes seat

- Esteban Ocon reckons he came “very close” to landing a seat with Mercedes for 2020. Ocon was in contention to replace Valtteri Bottas for the upcoming year, and claims talks continued to the “last moment”, but ultimately missed out on the drive, instead joining Renault (ESPN)

- Lewis Hamilton has expanded on his decision to switch to a vegan diet and its benefits for his on-track abilities, saying he's "always trying to raise the bar" (Daily Mail)

- Ex-Formula 1 driver Sergey Sirotkin is set to open a new karting academy in his native Russia later this month, linking up with his state backer, SMP Racing (Formula Spy)

- Former Williams head of vehicle performance Rob Smedley has warned things can get worse for the British team following its troublesome 2019 campaign, calling it “a tragic case” (Reuters)

- Channel 4 will be able to show more racing action as part of its TV highlights agreement for the 2020 season following talks with Sky, with an increased allowance of 50 percent of the race to 70 percent (Motorsport Broadcasting)

- The redesigned Zandvoort circuit will reward "brave" drivers upon the revival of the Dutch Grand Prix on May 3 this year, according to the track designer (Motorsport Week)

- Hitech's entry to Formula 2 for the 2020 season was brought forward in order to avoid being a year behind its rivals on tyre development with the new 18-inch compounds (FIA Formula 2)

- Electric Racing Academy, a new all-electric single-seater championship, was launched on Monday at Zolder, using the same chassis used in the Japanese Formula 4 series (RaceFans.net)