McLaren Confirm Four Candidates for 2019 Seat

Zak Brown has confirmed that Stoffel Vandoorne, Lando Norris, Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez make up McLaren’s shortlist to partner Carlos Sainz Jr in the team next year. McLaren are due to make an announcement on their full 2019 line-up before the end of September.

Vandoorne remains under consideration despite being outperformed by Fernando Alonso this season, while Norris has pressed forward his ambitions with FP1 outings in Belgium and Italy recently.

Targeting both of Force India’s drivers suggests that things remain up in the air at the Silverstone team – where Lance Stroll is expected to arrive before 2018 ends.

McLaren are reportedly keen to get F2 title challenger Norris into a race seat as soon as possible, but Brown says it is not a simple decision for next year.

“He’s definitely ready for Formula 1, we’ll make a decision this month,” Brown said.

“We’ve got three or four drivers on our shortlist and he’s one. We want to make sure he’s got enough experience and he’s ready to go.

“Stoffel very much so, he’s been with us for a couple of years. He’s had a difficult time with a difficult race car.

“Ocon is someone we like. We think Sergio Perez is a good race car driver. So there’s a few in queue.”

Perez is understood to have already agreed a 2019 deal with Force India. However, Brown says it does not necessarily rule him out of a switch of teams.

He said: “It’s a complicated situation, with the team changing hands. I don’t want to get too much into contract situations. If he’s a driver we want to go after, there’s ways to make that happen.”