F1: 5 intriguing team-mate battles in 2019

#2 McLaren | Carlos Sainz vs Lando Norris

In a repeat of 2007, McLaren will field a Spanish and a British (Lando Norris) driver next season

Carlos Sainz Jr's stock hasn't risen as high as fellow debutant Verstappen (since 2015), but he gets a fresh start, a tabula rasa, after arriving via Renault to replace his idol Alonso.

Lando Norris, meanwhile, is highly rated at McLaren. While Sainz may have the race craft and experience, Norris might have the one-lap pace advantage. He has clocked seriously good times in free practice already.

It will interesting to see their fortunes vis a vis the new McLaren, desperate to return to winning ways.

Sainz with Renault finished second best to Hulkenberg, and could be said to have under-performed in 2018. A definite favorite would be hard to choose with a lot of back and forth in speed and form expected in their and McLaren's way back from mediocrity.