McLaren: Carlos Sainz to replace Fernando Alonso from 2019

Carlos Sainz has signed a multi-year deal to replace Fernando Alonso at McLaren from the 2019 season, the team have confirmed.

Alonso, twice world champion, announced on Tuesday that he will retire from Formula 1 at the end of the year.

Fellow Spaniard Sainz, 23, is currently on loan at Renault from Red Bull and said it was a "childhood dream" to join McLaren.

"I've been a McLaren fan for as long as I can remember," he added.

"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."

Carlos Sainz, F1 career so far
2015: Toro Rosso - 19 races, finished 15th in drivers' standings
2016: Toro Rosso - 21 races, finished 12th
2017: Toro Rosso/Renault - 20 races, finished ninth
2018: Renault - 12 races so far, currently 11th

McLaren Racing chief executive Zak Brown said Sainz, who began his F1 career with Toro Rosso, provided "the perfect blend of youth and experience".

"We're incredibly excited to have Carlos join us as a McLaren driver," added Brown.

"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."

After the Hungarian Grand Prix, Sainz sits 11th in the drivers' championship standings with 30 points, with his best race finish fourth in Singapore while racing for Toro Rosso in 2017.

McLaren's other driver is currently Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne.

Why is Fernando Alonso retiring from F1?

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641 comments

Based on Alonso's previous career decisions, I wouldn't be surprised if Mclaren were competitive next year!
The fact that McLaren won't have a "superstar" driver in their car for the first time I can remember says a lot about their decline. This is how it began for Williams...

Still though, good luck to Sainz! Good to see him with a race seat for 2019...
Forget about which driver they sign. What they should do is re-sign Ron Dennis!
The 2019 McLaren should be quicker! its said to have no floor plank so that the drivers can propel it like fred flinstone.
Good for McLaren but will it be good for Carlos ? Let's hope they finally get their act together.
This is a big coup for McLaren in my opinion as Sainz would have been on Red Bulls radar to replace Danny Ric.

Gasly to RBR now?
It's a very good move. Sainz is one of the best young drivers - he more than match Verstappen when they were team mates but didn't get the clamour. He & Vandoorne would a very good pairing - both will grow; Norris will likely stay in F2 for another year, depending on who wins its.

Biggest problem is the car and structure at McLaren. If they fix the design, they could be best of the rest.
Best of luck to him with that dog of a car.
Good move. Yes, his options were very limited, but McLaren will bounce back. Fans are too eager to say “this team is rubbish, that team is rubbish”, but look at the history of all teams. They all have highs and lows. McLaren will win again. Sainz is the perfect fit for them at the moment. Both parties with unfulfilled potential in recent years. Best of luck to McSainz!
I will not make any judgements now on this news, I guess the proof will be in the Pre-Season testing next year, thats when we will see if its a good deal or not
@63 [...] Cristian Horner with all his family money and coludirse not even but a seat for him."

Please translate into English. 'colud' might be 'could and 'but' might be 'buy' but 'irse' in that location has defeated my decryption skills.
@88 ~ iwalker147
"F1 is not politically correct enough for BBC to ever show again"

So, nothing to do with Bernie selling TV rights so he could afford yet another yacht? Ever looked at F1 coverage around the world? There are precious few places left where the ordinary punter can (legally) watch live F1 free to air anymore.
I wish him well, but I doubt he'll get success with McLaren. The whole team needs to get back to the Ron Denis way of working. One boss my way or the highway.
Might seem harsh these days, but McLaren are the second most successful team in F1, a lot of that under the guidance of Ron. Not my favourite boss, but affective. Re-sign him.
Glad Sainz is staying in the sport! A double change at McLaren maybe...
@8 Yes because Ferrari and Mercedes don't concentrate on their road cars! Mercedes' only reason for being in F1 is to sell more road cars, you think they're in it for the sport? Muppet.
Agree with #87 Chris. The TV documentary on Bruce McLaren was fascinating. Pretty tragic how such a great team has deteriorated. Same with Williams :(
More and more I find myself watching classic F1 races with revered racers like Senna, Prost, Mansell, Patrese, Alesi, Piquet et al and just looking aghast at the current state of the grid. Far too little experience in any form of racing, the F2 support series is full of kids barely out of school, and all too soon discarded for the next junior or pay driver knocking on the door. Alonso a big loss.
413 PGB

Yes I have been reading looking in on them all but to be honest I have just not wanted to post. These pages are getting worse by the week, some really insulting comments, personal attacks then of course just the usual trolls.
I love F1 and everything to do with it but these pages are just not fun or interesting any more because of the amount of vile stuff on them.
188. Hamilton could have won more titles too. 2007,2010,2016 make him a 7xWDC already. - Alonso is not the only driver who has had bad luck or missed opportunities!

But in 2010 specifically Alonso made more mistakes than all the title contenders who all made mistakes that year. Its absolutely astonishing how people pretend Alonso was faultless in 2010! He wasn't. His errors cost him the title
If Alonso's previous career choices are anything to go by the 2019 McLaren will probably be the pick of the field!