F1: Carlos Sainz To Join McLaren In 2019

Just days after Fernando Alonso announced his retirement from F1, McLaren has confirmed that Carlos Sainz will be stepping into the former world champion's shoes as his replacement. Sainz joins McLaren on a multi-year deal stepping away from its current team Red Bull Racing. Red Bull though has loaned Sainz to Renault this season. That said, Renault has already announced about bringing Daniel Ricciardo onboard from Red Bull next year, who will be stepping in as a replacement for Sainz at the French outfit and will race alongside Nico Hulkenberg next year.

Speaking about his move to McLaren, Carlos Sainz said, "I'm delighted to finally be able to confirm that I'll be a McLaren driver from the 2019 season. It's something I've been looking at for a while and I'm very excited about this next chapter in my career. I've been a McLaren fan for as long as I can remember. It's a great name in the sport with an incredible heritage, and the list of drivers that have raced for McLaren over the years are among the heroes of Formula 1. Fernando is of course one of them, so it's particularly special that I'll be taking his seat as part of the next generation of Spanish racing drivers behind the wheel of a McLaren. Finally, I'd like to thank everyone at McLaren for giving me this opportunity to fulfil a childhood dream. The team has a long-term plan for the future and I'm very much looking forward to playing a key role in its journey back to success."

Carlos Sainz made his Formula 1 debut in 2015 with Torro Rosso and moved to Renault this year on a loan from Red Bull. The 23-year-old will now be looking to work with McLaren in a bid to achieve the best results during the 2019 season.

McLaren Racing's Chief Executive Officer, Zak Brown said, "We're incredibly excited to have Carlos join us as a McLaren driver. We've been assessing him for some time now and rate him very highly among the next generation of young talent emerging through the ranks in Formula 1. Carlos brings with him the perfect blend of youth and experience. Although he's just 23, he'll be starting his fifth season in the sport with us and will bring with him a huge amount of racing experience, both in Formula 1 and with our partner Renault. It's no secret that Carlos is a huge admirer of Fernando's, and it's fitting that he will be stepping into his seat as a Spaniard with a legendary name in motorsport. We think he'll be a great fit for McLaren and we're really excited to have him join us from next season and beyond."

While McLaren has confirmed Carlos as its driver for 2019, the team also said that it will announce its second driver in "due course." This only puts the future of Stoffel Vandoorne in F1 uncertain at this point. Rumours suggested that the team was also looking at bringing F2 driver Lando Norris to F1, but it's clear that the McLaren isn't sure about that either at this point. There have also been rumours about Mercedes in talks with McLaren to loan Force India's Esteban Ocon for next season, with Lance Stroll moving to Force India in 2019.

It was announced earlier this week that Fernando Alonso will step away from F1 at the end of this year. While he did hint at returning to the sport in the future, there have been no confirmations yet.