THE SWITCHBACK

With eight of 10 teams featuring at least one new driver and some shock moves in the driver market, it has been one of the craziest silly seasons in recent memory.

 

Mercedes-AMG Petronas

Mercedes were one of the two teams to remain unchanged. Lewis Hamilton is contracted till 2020, while second driver Valtteri Bottas is signed till the end of 2019.

 

The main bit of driver news for the silver arrows will be that Esteban Ocon will be the third driver for the team after not being able to secure a full-time drive.

 

Scuderia Ferrari

Charles LeClerc will line-up alongside Sebastian Vettel after him and Kimi Raikkonen swap seats for 2019. The young Monégasque driver has impressed at Sauber in 2018, showing maturity beyond his years and the ability to extract the maximum from his car, so he could be a 2019 contender right out of the block.

 

Red Bull Racing Honda

After the shock news of Daniel Ricciardo's move to Renault, Red Bull had two options of Carlos Sainz Jr. or Pierre Gasly. They went with the Frenchman, despite an up and down 2018 with Toro Rosso, Pierre has shown he has talent and a few showcase drives, such as a 4th in Bahrain, made him the favourite of Red Bull.

 

He lines-up alongside Max Verstappen, who is even younger than Gasly, to complete a very fresh-faced set up for the Milton Keynes based-Austrian outfit.

 

Renault

A huge addition in the form of Daniel Ricciardo will boost Renault for 2019. The Australian pass-master takes the place of Carlos Sainz Jr. after his loan deal from Red Bull was brought to a close.

 

Ricciardo will be paired with Nico Hulkenberg, with many suggesting the German will drop to an unfamiliar second-driver spot to accommodate his new, big0name team-mate. 

 

Rich Energy Haas

The second of the unchanged teams for 2019, however, a new title sponsor will be on board. Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen will pilot the Rich Energy liveried Haas machines in the new year.

 

McLaren Renault

It's all change at McLaren for the new season. A tough year for the once great outfit lead to Fernando Alonso deciding enough was enough and stepping away for the sport, although with the door open for a 2020 return. Stoffel Vandoorne also waves goodbye to F1, but this wasn't his decision. A very tough year for the Belgian sees him move to Formula E and take up a Mercedes simulator role.

 

So for 2019, McLaren's prodigy Lando Norris steps into a full-time seat after plenty of testing in 2018. He will be joined by Carlos Sainz Jr., who's second involvement in a transfer triangle in two seasons finished with him being released by Red Bull, leaving him free to replace his hero Alonso. Another exciting young line-up for 2019 and McLaren will be hoping they can match the talent at their disposal with a competitive car.

 

Racing Point (Force India)

Long-serving Mexican Sergio Perez will continue with the new outfit next year, having played an instrumental role in the team's mid-season buy-out.

 

While not yet officially confirmed, it is rather obvious that current Williams driver and son of the Racing Point owner Lance Stroll will take the remaining seat. A move many predicted to happen in mid-season after Laurence Stroll bought out the team, the path is now cleared for Lance to make the move.

 

It is expected Esteban Ocon will be made third driver for his former team as well, alongside the same role at Mercedes and another team that will pop up in conversation later...

 

Alfa Romeo Sauber

It's going to be all change at Sauber as well. With LeClerc moving to Ferrari and Marcus Ericcson moving to IndyCar as well as a third driver role with the Swiss set-up, two 'new' drivers enter the set-up.

 

Kimi Raikkonen returns to the team where it all started for him back in 2001. Ferrari feeling like it was time to move new talent into his seat at the main team, but with Raikkonen not ready to hang up the gloves, he takes his experience into Ferrari's 'junior' team.

 

The Iceman will be paired with young Italian Antonio Giovinazzi. After finishing as GP2 runner-up in 2016, the Ferrari young driver has had to wait patiently for a full-time drive. A difficult first experience of F1 racing in 2017, when he filled in for an injured Pascal Wehrlein at Sauber, will hopefully be clear of Giovinazzi's mind as he eventually gets a proper shot.

  

Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda

The only seat that is still up in the air, who will take that second Toro Rosso spot. A surprising replacement for Gasly was announced as a knock on effect of Ricciardo's move, as Daniil Kvyat was brought back to the team. An off-on relationship between the Red Bull family and Kvyat will hopefully become more settled in 2019, with the talented by inconsistent Russian given another shot.

 

So, who is in contention for the second spot? Brendon Hartley currently holds the seat, but Dr. Helmut Marko is known to be unsatisfied with the New Zealander's performances, and noises around the paddock suggest it's curtains for his F1 career. The only remaining Red Bull Junior driver is Dan Ticktum. The young Brit finished as a runner-up in FIA F3 Europe, won the F3 World Cup in Macau and made his F2 debut in Abu Dhabi, however, is five super licences points short of the required 40. The final name linked with the vacant seat is former Red Bull Junior and current F2 runner-up Alexander Albon. The British-born Thai driver has had a phenomenal year in his DAMS- run F2 machine, pushing eventual Champion George Russell to the final event in Abu Dhabi.

 

Williams Racing

Another complete turn around of a driver line-up produces a feel-good story even Hollywood wouldn't write. Sergey Sirotkin's tough 2018 will be his only season in F1 as things stand, and Lance Stroll is 99.9% certain to join his Dad's Racing Point team.

George Russell was first to be announced for the legendary British outfit, that a lot like McLaren, have fallen from grace in recent years. But in the story of the year, Robert Kubica makes a full-time return to F1, eight years after he almost lost his right arm in a rally accident. Almost taking Sauber to a world championship in 2008  and signing a deal to race for Ferrari in 2012, Kubica makes a long-awaited and very popular return to F1.