Formula 1: Who would Lance Stroll replace at Force India in 2019?

With Lawrence Stroll having purchased Force India, it is likely that his son Lance will drive for the team in the 2019 Formula 1 season. Who will he replace?

Sahara Force India’s current driver lineup consists of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, the same two drivers who drove for the team in the 2017 Formula 1 season. However, following the purchase of the team by a Lawrence Stroll-led consortium, the odds that these two drivers both return to the team in the 2019 season are almost nonexistent.

For the 2017 season, Stroll spent $80 million to get his son Lance a seat at Williams Martini Racing. Lance Stroll finished in 12th place in the driver standings last season with seven top 10 finishes, including a career-high third place finish in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, in the season’s 20 races.

Stroll returned to the team this season, but he has recorded just one top 10 finish, an eighth place finish in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, through the season’s first 12 races. As a result, he sits in 18th in the driver standings.

Williams are by far the worst team on the grid, and their position of 10th in the constructor standings shows it. Their only four points came as a result of Stroll’s eighth place finish in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, as Sergey Sirotkin has not even finished a race in the top 12 let alone the top 10 for the team so far.

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But it is likely that Stroll will only have to deal with driving for Williams for another nine races, at most, to close out the 2018 season as a result of the fact that his father purchased Force India. The 19-year-old will likely drive for Force India next year in what is set to be his third season in Formula 1.

The question is, which of the team’s two drivers will Stroll replace next year?

Perez had been rumored as a potential replacement candidate for Romain Grosjean at Haas. But with Kimi Raikkonen likely returning to Scuderia Ferrari for at least another season, Alfa Romeo Sauber rookie  Charles Leclerc will likely not drive for the Maranello-based team next season, making him the driver who will most likely sign with the sport’s lone American team to become a teammate to Kevin Magnussen.

At this point, the 28-year-old Mexican believes that he is close to reaching a deal with Force India to return to the team next year. After all, his backers sent the team into administration to protect them against the threat of a winding-up order.

Ocon was rumored as a potential replacement candidate for Carlos Sainz Jr. at Renault Sport, as a result of the fact that Sainz Jr., who was loaned to Renault by Red Bull Racing this season, was expected to either return to Scuderia Toro Rosso, the Red Bull Racing junior team, or replace Daniel Ricciardo at Aston Martin Red Bull Racing assuming Ricciardo signed a deal to drive for one of the sport’s top two teams, Ferrari or Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport.

This was the case largely due to the fact that Red Bull Racing announced in June that they will be switching from Renault engines to Honda engines next season, ending their 12-year partnership with Renault.

While Ricciardo did announce that he would be leaving Red Bull Racing after the end of this season, he did so by signing a two-year contract with Renault as Sainz Jr.’s replacement, meaning Renault do not have any open seats for Ocon next season with Nico Hulkenberg also set to return to the team.

Sainz Jr. ended up signing a multi-year contract with McLaren to replace retiring two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso in 2019 before it was revealed that Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly is set to replace Ricciardo at Red Bull Racing next season.

With the future of McLaren’s other driver, Stoffel Vandoorne, being uncertain as a result of the fact that he has underperformed this season, Ocon has become one of the leading candidates to drive for McLaren next season.

With all of this in mind, Force India’s most likely lineup for the 2019 season consists of Stroll and Perez, meaning the Canadian will likely replace the 21-year-old Frenchman.

Assuming Lance Stroll drives for Force India in the 2019 Formula 1 season, will he drive alongside Sergio Perez or Esteban Ocon? For which team will whoever he replaces end up driving next year?