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Formula 1: McLaren the first team to confirm their 2020 driver lineup

By Asher Fair

MONTE-CARLO, MONACO - MAY 25: Carlos Sainz of Spain and McLaren F1 and Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren F1 walk in the Paddock before final practice for the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco at Circuit de Monaco on May 25, 2019 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. (Photo by Charles Coates/Getty Images)
MONTE-CARLO, MONACO - MAY 25: Carlos Sainz of Spain and McLaren F1 and Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren F1 walk in the Paddock before final practice for the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco at Circuit de Monaco on May 25, 2019 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. (Photo by Charles Coates/Getty Images) /
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McLaren became the first team to confirm their 2020 Formula 1 driver lineup by confirming the returns of Carlos Sainz Jr. and rookie Lando Norris.

One team that should not factor all that heavily into the upcoming Formula 1 Silly Season for the 2020 season is McLaren, as nine races into the 21-race 2019 season, they have already confirmed their driver lineup for the 2020 season.

The Woking-based team became the first team to confirm their driver lineup for the 2020 season on Tuesday when they confirmed that both Carlos Sainz Jr. and Lando Norris, their current two drivers who began driving for the team this season, will return to the team next year.

Several other drivers have contracts that do not expire at the end of the 2019 season, including both drivers on certain teams.

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However, the contracts of many drivers contain certain clauses that drivers can trigger to get out of their contracts before they expire, so there is always an element of speculation that these drivers may try to pursue other options, thus leaving these teams with unconfirmed lineups for the 2020 season.

This element did exist within McLaren as well, but not to a huge extent. With McLaren having distanced themselves as the “best of the rest” team in the constructor standings behind Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Scuderia Ferrari and Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, as they currently sit 20 points ahead of Renault for fourth place in the standings (52 to 32), it did not make sense for Sainz Jr. or Norris to leave, and it made no sense for McLaren to leave the door open for any speculation, at least not for the 2020 season.

Both the 24-year-old Spaniard and the 19-year-old Briton had been speculated to return to the team for the 2020 season after signing multi-year contracts ahead of the 2019 season, with Sainz Jr. doing so last August as the replacement for two-time champion Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso and Norris doing so last September as the replacement for Stoffel Vandoorne.

Sainz Jr. and Norris currently sit as the “best of the rest” drivers in the driver standings as well, as Sainz Jr. sits in seventh place behind the six Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing drivers with 30 points on five top eight finishes and Norris sits in eighth behind his teammate and these six drivers with 22 points on four top nine finishes.

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With all things considered, it is safe to take McLaren out of the upcoming Silly Season discussion pertaining to which drivers could drive for which teams in the 2020 Formula 1 season, as they are set to continue competing with the two drivers who currently drive for them.

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