Formula 1: Will Esteban Ocon drive for McLaren in 2019?

With Esteban Ocon’s contract set to expire at the end of the 2018 Formula 1 season, will the Frenchman end up driving for McLaren in 2019?

The contracts of Sahara Force India teammates Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez are set to expire upon the conclusion of the 2018 Formula 1 season. Perez expects to sign a new contract to continue driving for the team next season, but the future seems to be a bit less certain for Ocon.

With a Lawrence Stroll-led consortium having purchased Force India after Perez’s backers sent the team into administration to protect them against the threat of a winding-up order, it is likely that Stroll’s son, current Williams Martini Racing driver Lance Stroll, will replace one of the team’s two current drivers.

More than likely, the 19-year-old Canadian won’t be replacing the 28-year-old Mexican, so the 21-year-old Frenchman will likely no longer be driving for Force India in his third career Formula 1 season next year.

Where will Ocon end up driving next season? It was originally thought that he would end up becoming a teammate to Nico Hulkenberg at Renault Sport. But this is no longer an option.

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It was widely believed that Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo would leave Red Bull Racing and sign with one of the sport’s top two teams, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport or Scuderia Ferrari.

As a result of this, it was also believed that current Renault driver Carlos Sainz Jr., who is technically a Red Bull Racing driver since he was only loaned to Renault from Red Bull Racing this season, would either return to Scuderia Toro Rosso, the Red Bull Racing junior team, or replace Ricciardo at Red Bull Racing, thus opening up a seat for Ocon at Renault.

The likelihood of this shot up when Red Bull Racing announced in June that they will be ending their 12-year partnership with Renault and switching from Renault engines to Honda engines starting next season.

Ricciardo is, in fact, set to leave Red Bull Racing at the end of the season. However, he shockingly signed a two-year contract to replace Sainz Jr. at Renault, meaning there are no seats available for Ocon at the French team.

Sainz Jr., who was briefly left looking for a ride, signed a multi-year contract with McLaren shortly after two-time Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso, who currently drives for the team, announced that the 2018 season will be his final season in Formula 1.

With the future of McLaren’s other driver, Stoffel Vandoorne, being very uncertain given the fact that he has struggled mightily as of late and he hasn’t scored any points in the last eight races, Ocon has become the favorite to land with the Woking-based team alongside the driver who many people thought he’d replace at Renault.

McLaren reserve driver Lando Norris also has a chance to replace Vandoorne next season, but McLaren have admitted that they are willing to loan him to another team as long as he does not sign a long-term contract that would cause him to leave McLaren.

With Norris being just 18 years old, it is hard to picture McLaren promoting him as their second full-time driver alongside Sainz Jr. with Ocon being available.

Will Esteban Ocon drive for McLaren in the 2019 Formula 1 season? If not, will he drive in Formula 1 next year? If so, which team will he drive for?