Formula 1: Ferrari 2019 driver announcement likely coming this week
By Asher Fair
Scuderia Ferrari will likely announce who their second driver will be for the 2019 Formula 1 season alongside four-time champion Sebastian Vettel this week.
The long-awaited decision as to who Scuderia Ferrari will name as their second driver for the 2019 Formula 1 season to become the teammate to four-time Formula 1 champion Sebastian Vettel is reportedly almost here.
Ferrari will likely announce who their second driver will be for next year at some point later this week, likely Thursday, and, as previously reported, that driver will likely be 20-year-old Charles Leclerc.
Leclerc, who won the 2016 GP3 Series and 2017 Formula 2 championships, is currently in his first season as a full-time Formula 1 driver after he test drove for Ferrari and Haas in the 2016 season and Ferrari and Alfa Romeo Sauber in the 2017 season.
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The Monegasque currently drives for Sauber in Formula 1. In his first 14 races, he has scored 13 points as a result of five top 10 finishes, of which all five took place during a six-race span. Among these top 10 finishes is a career-high sixth place finish in the fourth race of his career, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Leclerc currently sits in 15th in the driver standings and is in the midst of the best season for a Sauber driver in several seasons on many levels. Him replacing the 2007 Formula 1 champion would come after several months of the two drivers exchanging the status as the favorite to be Vettel’s teammate next year on multiple occasions.
In June, it was revealed that Ferrari were ready to replace the 38-year-old Finn with the Ferrari junior driver, and shortly thereafter, it was revealed the Ferrari and Leclerc had agreed on a contract that had not yet been signed.
But in late July, former Ferrari CEO Sergio Marchionne passed away suddenly at the age of 66. Marchionne was a huge fan of Leclerc and wanted him to drive for Ferrari as soon as possible, which is why it was reported that Leclerc was set to do so starting next year. However, Marchionne was replaced by Louis Camilleri, who wanted to re-sign Raikkonen.
Shortly after Marchionne’s death, it was revealed that Raikkonen would sign a two-year contract extension with Ferrari to remain with the team through at least the 2021 season and that his new deal would be announced at Ferrari’s home race, the Italian Grand Prix.
The Italian Grand Prix has now come and gone, and ironically, it was over the weekend of this race during which it was revealed that Ferrari’s plans had changed and that they will likely sign Leclerc as Raikkonen’s replacement to honor the plans set forth by Marchionne before his death.
As to whether or not this situation experiences any more twists and turns before Ferrari officially announce who their second driver for next year will be, it is anybody’s guess.
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When will Ferrari finally announce who Sebastian Vettel’s teammate will be in the 2019 Formula 1 season? Will his teammate be Charles Leclerc like many people expect, or will the team retain Kimi Raikkonen for the ninth season overall, sixth consecutive season and fifth consecutive season as the teammate to the 31-year-old German?