If He Was Free, He Would be High on the List – McLaren

McLaren F1 CEO, Zak Brown has said that Carlos Sainz Jr. is being considered as an option for 2019. The British team are waiting in the wings in the event that he fail to earn a promotion to Aston Martin Red Bull Racing.

The Spaniard is currently on loan from Red Bull to the Renault F1 team until the end of this year. He is one of the candidates to replace the outgoing Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull.

However, the relationship between Sainz and Verstappen are fairly strained from their time in Toro Rosso. So, Pierre Gasly looks to be the most likely successor to Ricciardo’s seat. Especially after a string of impressive performances for Toro Rosso Honda.

With McLaren yet to confirm their 2019 driver line-up, Sainz Jr. may still have a lifeline. Meanwhile, current driver Fernando Alonso, is still weighing his options. His interests are swinging towards the Verizon Indycar Series and the World Endurance Championship.

However, Stoffel Vandoorne isn’t fairing too well either. The Belgian has endured yet another trying season so far. But Brown has insisted that McLaren still have faith in him.

“We do have a long-term agreement in place with Stoffel and Fernando, but as you can imagine in these contracts there’s a variety of elements to them,” Brown told Motorsport.com.

“We will make our driver decision when we’re ready. I anticipate that being some time after the summer break. 

Regarding Carlos Sainz Jr, Brown admitted that he was a big admirer of the Spaniard.

“If he was free, and if we had a seat, he would certainly be high up on the consideration set.”

Brown has all but confirmed that Fernando Alonso might step away from F1 next year. He revealed that the Woking outfit have two race seats available for 2019, neither filled as yet.

McLaren are a team with huge pedigree and few drivers would turn down an opportunity to race for the former champions.

According to Brown, “Reality is that we have two open seats, and it’s our job to get the best driver situation possible and that requires talking to other drivers up and down the pit-lane.”