Formula 1: 6 drivers who could sign with Toro Rosso for 2019

Asher Fair

HOCKENHEIM, GERMANY - JULY 22: Pierre Gasly of France and Scuderia Toro Rosso driving the (10) Scuderia Toro Rosso STR13 Honda leads Brendon Hartley of New Zealand driving the (28) Scuderia Toro Rosso STR13 Honda (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

With at least one seat set to be open at the team for the 2019 Formula 1 season, here are five drivers who Scuderia Toro Rosso could sign.

Scuderia Toro Rosso, the Red Bull Racing junior team, currently have two rookies driving for them, of whom both began driving for the team at the end of the 2017 Formula 1 season. These two drivers are Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley.

Gasly drove for the team in five of the last six races of the 2017 season as the replacement for Daniil Kvyat and Hartley drove for the team in the last four races of last year as the replacement for Carlos Sainz Jr., who left the team on loan to drive for Renault Sport earlier than expected as a result of the early departure of Jolyon Palmer.

However, neither the 22-year-old Frenchman nor the 28-year-old Kiwi have contracts to continue driving for the Faenza-based team next year. In fact, Gasly has already signed a contract to replace Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull Racing after the 29-year-old Australian made the shocking decision to sign a two-year contract to replace Sainz Jr. at Renault.

With so much uncertainty surrounding the Italian team with just seven races remaining on the 2018 schedule, who will they sign to drive for them in the 2019 season? Here are six possible candidates who could be in the mix.

MONZA, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 02: Pierre Gasly of France and Scuderia Toro Rosso driving the (10) Scuderia Toro Rosso STR13 Honda (Photo by Charles Coates/Getty Images)

Dan Ticktum

Toro Rosso attempted to replace Brendon Hartley with Dan Ticktum earlier this year, but they were unable to do so as a result of rules pertaining to his FIA Super License. In fact, he was not even permitted to test driver for the team until after the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Ticktum currently drives for Motopark in Formula 3, and he sits atop the driver standings with four victories and six podium finishes in the first 21 races of the 30-race season.

While the drivers discussed in this article are not discussed in any particular order as far as how likely they are to drive for Toro Rosso next year is concerned, it appears as though the 19-year-old Briton is one of the favorites to replace Pierre Gasly next year or possibly Hartley if he and the team end up parting ways.

After all, Toro Rosso were willing to let go of Hartley this year if it meant signing Ticktum as his replacement. If Hartley returns to the team next year, expect him to return alongside Ticktum, as it is hard to see the team signing Hartley without signing Ticktum, who they have shown that they prefer.

But even if Hartley doesn’t return to the team in 2019, expect Ticktum to sign with the team and be joined by one of the other five drivers discussed in this article.

Stoffel Vandoorne

It was widely speculated that McLaren reserve driver Lando Norris, who currently drives for Carlin in Formula 2 and sits in second place in the driver standings, would be loaned by McLaren to Toro Rosso for next year.

With Red Bull Racing’s driver lineup set to consist of 22-year-old Pierre Gasly and 20-year-old Max Verstappen next year, it isn’t like they would sign the 18-year-old Briton away from McLaren to join Toro Rosso, as they likely will not try to replace either one of their young drivers for several seasons.

Norris is another driver who Toro Rosso attempted to replace Brendon Hartley with this year, but McLaren blocked the move. However, they did admit that they would be willing to loan him to another team provided he did not end up signing a long-term contract with this other team.

It would have made sense for Norris to be loaned by McLaren to Toro Rosso for both Toro Rosso and McLaren. For Toro Rosso’s sake, Norris is one of the most talented drivers currently not competing in Formula 1, and for McLaren’s sake, he could gain valuable experience in the sport without the Woking-based team risking him getting away.

However, Norris ended up being signed by McLaren as the replacement for Stoffel Vandoorne, the 26-year-old Belgian who is in just his second season as a full-time driver in Formula 1, as they still feared that Red Bull Racing would try to steal him for Toro Rosso.

Vandoorne has never driven for a team other than McLaren since his Formula 1 career began in the 2016 season and as a full-time driver last season. But McLaren CEO Zak Brown has urged Toro Rosso to sign him.

Here is some of what Brown had to say about the matter, according to Motorsport.com.

"“Stoffel’s an outstanding race car driver. You know, ultimately, we look to the future and Lando’s a future star. I think in a different environment Stoffel may excel more with a better race car.”"

Vandoorne has secured seven top 10 finishes in his 34 career Formula 1 starts so far. His career-high finishes are seventh place finishes in the 2017 Singapore Grand Prix and the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix. He currently sits in 16th in the driver standings with eight points on three top 10 finishes so far this year, including a season-high eighth place finish in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

George Russell

Mercedes junior driver George Russell currently drives for ART Grand Prix in Formula 2, and he leads the Formula 2 driver standings. He is the only driver who Lando Norris trails in the standings.

The 20-year-old Briton is another driver who Toro Rosso could consider signing for next year. There are no seats open at the factory Mercedes team, as Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas have both signed contracts that extend through at least the 2019 season.

With the two open seats at Racing Point Force India, one of the other two Mercedes-powered teams in the sport, likely to be filled for 2019 in the near future with current Force India driver Sergio Perez and current Williams driver Lance Stroll, Williams are likely the only Mercedes-powered team for which Russell could drive next season.

Seeing as how Williams have been the slowest team on the grid by far through the first 14 races this year, Mercedes would be better off loaning Russell to Toro Rosso than letting him sign with Williams.

Like with case discussed on the previous slide of this article involving Norris, Red Bull Racing’s driver lineup is set to consist of 22-year-old Pierre Gasly and 20-year-old Max Verstappen for 2019, so it isn’t like they would sign Russell away from Mercedes to join Toro Rosso, as they likely won’t be looking to replace either one of their young drivers for several years.

Russell would be a great addition to Toro Rosso for what would likely end up being one or two seasons, as he is one of the most talented drivers currently not competing in Formula 1, and him driving for the team would benefit Mercedes in that he would gain valuable experience behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car before potentially replacing Hamilton or Bottas at the factory team. It would be a win-win.

Esteban Ocon

Esteban Ocon, like George Russell, is a Mercedes junior driver. He currently drives for Racing Point Force India, one of the other two Mercedes-powered teams in Formula 1, but his future there is in doubt. In fact, the 22-year-old Frenchman stated himself before the Belgian Grand Prix that he will not be returning to the newly purchased team next year.

There are currently no drivers under contract to drive for Force India, but that is likely going to change in the near future. The team’s other current driver, Sergio Perez, will likely retain his seat with the team, as his backers were the ones who set the team into administration to protect them from the threat of a winding-up offer, thus allowed them to be purchased by a Lawrence Stroll-led consortium.

The other driver who will likely end up driving for Force India next year is current Williams Martini Racing driver Lance Stroll, the son of Lawrence Stroll who was the primary reason why the elder Stroll decided to purchase the team to begin with.

With the only other Mercedes-powered team aside of the factory team and Force India being Williams, the team that have been by far the slowest team on the grid this year, Mercedes would be better off loaning Esteban Ocon to Toro Rosso for a couple of seasons before hiring him to replace either Lewis Hamilton or Valtteri Bottas, who have both signed contracts to continue driving for the team through at least the 2019 season.

Ocon has had a successful Formula 1 career so far. After driving in the final nine races of the 2016 season for Manor Racing MRT and finishing in as high as 12th place, he has driven in 34 races as a full-time driver for Force India. He set the all-time Formula 1 record by finishing each of the first 27 races of his car.

Ocon has racked up 27 top 10 finishes, including career-high finishes of fifth place in the 2017 Spanish Grand Prix and the 2017 Mexican Grand Prix, in his Formula 1 career so far. So far this season, he has racked up eight top 10 finishes, including season-high sixth place finishes in the Monaco Grand Prix, the Austrian Grand Prix, the Belgian Grand Prix and the Italian Grand Prix. He currently sits in 10th in the driver standings.

Robert Kubica

Robert Kubica has not driven in Formula 1 since the 2010 season, but he has been looking to land a ride in the sport once again after almost a decade. The 33-year-old Pole currently test drives for Williams Martini Racing.

It was widely believed that Kubica would be the replacement for Felipe Massa, who retired at the end of last season, at Williams before the SMP Racing-backed Sergey Sirotkin came along with more funding.

For Kubica’s sake, maybe it is better than the 23-year-old Russian ended up being Lance Stroll’s teammate, as Williams have been by far the slowest team on the grid through the season’s first 14 races.

Williams have scored just seven points on three top 10 finishes so far this season, of which two came in the most recent race, the Italian Grand Prix. Their best finish of the season is Stroll’s eight place finish in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. They sit in 10th (last) place in the constructor standings with next to no chance of moving up even one position over the course of the season’s final seven races.

At Toro Rosso, Kubica would likely be able to score points on a fairly consistent basis, as demonstrated by the success of rookie Pierre Gasly, who utilized his success to land himself a ride at Red Bull Racing as Daniel Ricciardo’s replacement beginning next year.

Kubica has driven in 76 Formula 1 races over the course of five seasons, of which four he spent as a full-time driver. He won the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix and has racked up 11 other podium finishes over the course of his career. He finished as high as fourth place in the driver standings, which he did in the 2008 season, and he only finished lower than eighth in the standings in one of his four seasons as a full-time driver.

Brendon Hartley

Brendon Hartley is in his first full season driving for Toro Rosso after driving in the final four races of the 2017 season for the team last year as the replacement for Carlos Sainz Jr. While he has not been impressive whatsoever this year, there is still a chance that he will return in 2019.