F1: 4 Potential team mates for Carlos Sainz at McLaren

What a dramatic week it has been for McLaren off the track.

While many are away from the tracks and are enjoying their relaxation in the sun, McLaren have had to sort out their future plans for the 2019 season.

Tuesday had Fernando Alonso announce his retirement from Formula One after 17 years racing in the sport.

And just two days later, the team from Woking revealed Carlos Sainz Jr would, in fact, take Alonso's seat at the end of the season.

So that's one driver McLaren have got done and dusted for next year but who will be Sainz's new teammate inside the McLaren garage come the Australian Grand Prix in 2019?

Here are four potential candidates...

#4 Stoffel Vandoorne

F1 Grand Prix of Hungary — 2018 has been tough for Vandoorne

Stoffel Vandoorne may be an obvious choice for McLaren in 2019 but this season has seen the Belgian struggle on the track.

Yes, much of that can be blamed on the poor quality cars McLaren have provided to both Vandoorne and Alonso.

But the Spaniard has been able to drag the car home in the top five places on two occasions.

Vandoorne's performances have been criticised by the media which leaves the 26-year-old feeling uncertain on whether he will race for McLaren for a third season.

The Belgian racer was a test driver with McLaren in 2016 working alongside Alonso and Jenson Button.

Vandoorne was then promoted as one of their main drivers after Button decided to step back and watch on before officially retiring at the end of the 2017 championship.

#3 Esteban Ocon

The last few weeks at Force India have been tricky for the driver Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez.

After the team had to go into administration, they were on the lookout for a new buyer/investor.

And that's where Lance Stroll's father, Lawrence Stroll, ran in and saved the day by investing in the Silverstone based team. The rumours now suggest Lawrence's son is the hot favourite to be driving in the pink panther next year.

With Perez showing his commitment by helping the team avoid sacking over 200 members of staff last month, it looks as though Ocon is out of favour at Force India.

That said Ocon confidently said in a recent interview with Motorsport.com that he expects to be driving for Mercedes in the future.

Well, he won't be in 2019 as Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas have just signed their contract extensions with the silver arrows...

Well, this is awkward!

#2 Lando Norris

Now Lando Norris has been a name hanging around in the paddocks for the past few months as the Briton is tipped to be a future star Formula One star. Norris is currently McLaren's reserve driver and is also racing in the Formula 2 series, the second tier below F1.

The 18-year-old's build-up is nearly taking us back prior to the 2007 F1 world championship when a young Lewis Hamilton set foot on the grid.

Hours after Alonso's retirement announcement, Norris tweeted a Batman GIF with the caption 'Hmm! Interesting!'.

With Alonso departing and Vandoorne's future at McLaren looking uncertain, then this might just be the right time for Norris to knock on Zak Brown's door.

#1 Kimi Raikkonen

Kimi Raikkonen's future is another one that is undecided.

While his teammate Sebastian Vettel is receiving the number one driver treatment - Raikkonen looks to be out of favour at the Italian team.

Unless the Fin is happy being the number two man then life is good for the 2007 world champion.

11 years on and Raikkonen is still the last man to win the driver's championship for the pouncing horse while the likes of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso failed in their attempts.

Raikkonen is still one of the best drivers on the current grid and he proved that by finishing on the podium in the last five races.

The 38-year-old's latest contract will see him leave Ferrari at the end of the season and he will no doubt be on McLaren's shortlist who would be looking to reemploy him.

Raikkonen spent four years at McLaren between 2002 and 2006 winning nine races in those five seasons. But would Raikkonen want to go back to a team that is failing to compete on the track?

Who will team up with Carlos Sainz Jr in 2019? Comment below...

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