Formula 1: What we speculate about the 2019 driver lineup

With five seats still open on the grid for the 2019 Formula 1 season, which drivers will end up signing to drive for which teams?

Of the 20 projected cars on the grid in the 2019 Formula 1 season, 15 representing eight different teams have confirmed drivers while five representing three different teams do not.

With just five races remaining in the 21-race 2018 season, which drivers look like the most likely candidates to sign with which teams for next year?

Racing Point Force India

• Sergio Perez currently drives for Force India, and given the fact that his backers were the ones that sent the team into administration to protect them from a winding-up offer, thus allowing them to be purchased by a Lawrence Stroll-led consortium, expect the 28-year-old Mexican to return to the team in 2019.
• Lance Stroll currently drives for Williams, but given the fact that he is the son of Lawrence Stroll, who just led a consortium that purchased Force India, expect him to replace Esteban Ocon, who has already stated that he is set to leave Force India at the end of the season, and spend his third season in Formula 1 driving for his father’s new team.

Scuderia Toro Rosso

• Toro Rosso confirmed one of their drivers for the 2019 season, Daniil Kvyat, this past weekend. However, Red Bull Racing team advisor Helmut Marko stated that they can wait until winter testing to confirm their other driver. With that in mind, their other driver will likely be Dan Ticktum, who has previously been speculated as a possible Toro Rosso driver. Ticktum will not have enough points on his FIA Super License to compete in Formula 1 next year even if he wins the Formula 3 European Championship this year, but he could compete in the Winter Series of the Formula 3 Asian Championship, which is set to take place between January and February of 2019, to secure enough points to do so. This backs Marko’s claim that Toro Rosso can afford to wait to make their decision regarding who their second driver will be.

Williams Racing

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• Sergey Sirotkin currently drives for Williams Martini Racing, but while has not had a great rookie season, he brings with him substantial financial backing from SMP Racing. With Williams set to lose Martini as a sponsor for next season, the money that the 23-year-old Russian is able to supply the team will make it nearly impossible for them not to sign him.
• Mercedes junior drivers George Russell or Esteban Ocon could both land this seat. Mercedes are eager to get Russell in Formula 1 given his success in the GP3 Series (2017 champion) and in Formula 2 (current driver standings leader), but they also don’t want Ocon to end up without a ride following two seasons of performing at a high level driving for Force India. Since only one driver can land the ride, I’ll go with the established Formula 1 driver, the 22-year-old Frenchman, over the 20-year-old Briton.

With five open seats remaining for the 2019 Formula 1 season, which five drivers will end up signing to drive for one of the three teams that still have at least one open seat? Which teams will sign which drivers? With under two months remaining in the 2018 season, it should not be too long before we find out the answers to these questions.