McLaren intends to sort its 2019 Formula 1 driver line-up before the end of next month, Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Neale has confirmed.
McLaren currently fields Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne but the two-time World Champion announced last month that he will leave the championship at the end of the season.
McLaren swiftly announced current Renault driver Carlos Sainz Jr. as his replacement, sealing the Spaniard’s services on a two-year contract.
Vandoorne is under pressure to retain his seat after a subdued second season in the championship, while McLaren is evaluating reserve driver and F2 title contender Lando Norris.
The 18-year-old participated in the opening practice session for the team at the Belgian Grand Prix and will step into Vandoorne’s MCL33 at Monza on Friday.
“We’ve announced that Fernando will be stepping down from Formula 1 and we announced the planned changeover to Carlos Sainz, who will join us from the beginning of 2019,” said Neale in a conference call with McLaren investors.
“We’re in discussions about what we will do in the second seat and those announcements will be made in the third quarter.”
Neale also confirmed that McLaren hopes that James Key will be able to join “at some point during the course of next year.”
McLaren announced that it had recruited Key during the course of the Hungarian Grand Prix but he remains under contract with Toro Rosso.
Neale also stressed that it is up to McLaren to improve for next season, pointing to the performance this year of Red Bull, which also uses Renault power.
“Red Bull has demonstrated that with this engine it is possible to win a race and get cars on the podium,” he said.
“The issue that we have at the moment lies within our own control which is the chassis performance, its competitiveness is variable, depending on circuit parameters.
“We have a strong pipeline of engineering works and upgrades to address those issues throughout the course of this season, making sure we address the underlying issues before we get into 2019.”
McLaren currently holds sixth position in the Constructors’ Championship.
