Formula 1: Possible driver/team combinations for 2019 season
By Asher Fair
Which Formula 1 drivers will be driving for which teams in the 2019 season? Let’s have a look at the potential combinations.
As of right now, there are only two Formula 1 drivers who have confirmed and publicly known contracts for seasons beyond the 2018 season. As far as the other 18 active Formula 1 drivers are concerned, none of them can say this, although some of their contracts for the 2019 season are all but confirmed.
Those two drivers are Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen. Both drivers have contracts with their respective teams that run through the conclusion of the 2020 season, and both drivers signed their new contracts last season.
With so much up in the air in terms of contracts for next season and beyond, where will all of the non-contracted drivers end up after the 2018 season comes to an end? Yes, the season only just began a few weeks ago, but it is never too early to start looking ahead, especially with the potential for so much change.
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Here is a chart of possibilities in terms of which drivers could end up driving for which teams in the 2019 Formula 1 season. Of course, the title of this article is somewhat misleading, as this chart really does not have all of the possible driver/team combinations for the 2019 season — that would be practically impossible. However, it certainly has most of the combinations that actually have a chance of being the right one.
Whichever combination ends up being the right one is essentially extremely likely to be represented somewhere on this chart, as the odds that a driver who is not listed for a particular team ends up driving for that particular team in the 2019 season are extremely low and in some cases nonexistent. Unless something crazy happens over the course of the next few months, every possible driver for every team is likely included in this chart.
Here is a key for the chart.
| Key |
| Bold – Current driver for team |
| Bold/Italics – Contract for 2019 confirmed and publicly known |
Here is a way-too-early look at this chart.
| Team | Driver |
| Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | Lewis Hamilton |
| Valtteri Bottas | |
| Daniel Ricciardo | |
| Esteban Ocon | |
| George Russell | |
| Scuderia Ferrari | Sebastian Vettel |
| Kimi Raikkonen | |
| Daniel Ricciardo | |
| Sergio Perez | |
| Charles Leclerc | |
| Valtteri Bottas | |
| Aston Martin Red Bull Racing | Max Verstappen |
| Daniel Ricciardo | |
| Carlos Sainz Jr. | |
| Pierre Gasly | |
| Brendon Hartley | |
| Sahara Force India | Sergio Perez |
| Esteban Ocon | |
| Valtteri Bottas | |
| George Russell | |
| Pascal Wehrlein | |
| McLaren | Fernando Alonso |
| Stoffel Vandoorne | |
| Lando Norris | |
| Valtteri Bottas | |
| Renault Sport | Carlos Sainz Jr. |
| Nico Hulkenberg | |
| Esteban Ocon | |
| Sergio Perez | |
| Robert Kubica | |
| Stoffel Vandoorne | |
| Valtteri Bottas | |
| Williams Racing | Lance Stroll |
| Sergey Sirotkin | |
| Robert Kubica | |
| Valtteri Bottas | |
| Paul di Resta | |
| Haas | Kevin Magnussen |
| Romain Grosjean | |
| Sergio Perez | |
| Charles Leclerc | |
| Antonio Giovinazzi | |
| Scuderia Toro Rosso | Pierre Gasly |
| Brendon Hartley | |
| Sean Geleal | |
| Alfa Romeo Sauber | Charles Leclerc |
| Marcus Ericsson | |
| Antonio Giovinazzi | |
| Pascal Wehrlein |
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What do you think the driver and team lineup for the 2019 Formula 1 season will look like? Do you believe that the correct lineup is represented somewhere in the chart above, or do you believe that something unexpected will happen to send a surprise driver to a surprise team?