Carlos Sainz replaces Alonso at McLaren for 2019

“I’ve been a McLaren fan for as long as I can remember,” explains new McLaren signing Carlos Sainz, who has been confirmed as Fernando Alonso’s replacement for 2019. Alonso announced his retirement from F1 only yesterday.

The 23-year old Sainz has signed a multi-year deal with McLaren, joining the team next year alongside… well, that hasn’t been confirmed yet. Because “McLaren will communicate its full driver line-up for the 2019 season in due course.”

Sainz, currently racing at Renault (himself replaced by former Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo), has accrued seven pole positions and seven wins in his four years in Formula 1, having joined at the start of 2015 as the reigning Formula Renault 3.5 champion.

“The list of drivers that have raced for McLaren over the years are among the heroes of Formula 1,” he said. “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.”

His new boss, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown, added: “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.”