F1 Driver Roundabout Roundup

Most of the seats are already settled for the 2019 season, including 5 of the 6 at the three top-tier teams, Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. But with the second place at the Scuderia still up for grabs, this could have a domino effect on how the remaining seats are allocated.

In seasons of old, there were regularly 12 teams on the grid, resulting in an extra four drivers as compared to today, which means that a number of proven and promising drivers will likely have to miss out for the new year.

With the confirmation of Lando Norris' signing, McLaren join Red Bull, Mercedes and Renault in having completely set themselves up for 2019. Ferrari meanwhile will be retaining the services of four-time world champion Sebastien Vettel, but the position of his teammate is still very much an open question. Charles Leclerc was the choice of late Ferrari director Sergio Marchionne, and up until his unfortunate passing it seemed very much like the Monegasque would be replacing the veteran Kimi Raikkonen for the Maranello outfit.

Since then Leclerc's prospects had seemingly cooled, but in the past few days chatter has started up once again. With Vettel seemingly angered by Raikkonen's preferential treatment in qualifying at Monza, there have been a number of reports that the Finn is simply racing for himself and not the team - the suggestion being that he knows this is his last year in F1 and wants to make the most of it.

However, if the 2007 world champion is kept on the books, Leclerc could possibly head to Haas, who use Ferrari engines and are seen as a proxy B-team for the Italian manufacturer

Haas

Leclerc has impressed for a poor Sauber team

If Leclerc goes to Ferrari then it is unlikely Raikkonen would be up for a seat in a midfield team, leaving the second Haas seat open. Of course, it is possible that Haas could keep on both of their current drivers, Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean, but Magnussen has consistently outperformed his more experienced teammate and they may feel like it isn't too much of a risk to replace the accident-prone Frenchman with one of F1's greatest up and coming prospects.

Antonio Giovinazzi is the other driver in Ferrari's Junior Program and has already been test driver for Haas on a number of occasions. He will be looking to make the step up into the main category soon, and Haas (or Sauber) seem like his most obvious route into F1.

Another option for the American team would be to sign Esteban Ocon, who looks set to be pushed out of Force India, being replaced by Williams driver Lance Stroll, son of Lawrence Stroll, who led the consortium that saved the team from the brink of administration earlier on this season. But Haas may not fancy Ocon due to his ties to Mercedes, whose Junior Program he is currently signed to.

McLaren and Renault also cited this as a reason for not pursuing the youngster more extensively. The issue for him being that Valtteri Bottas is already signed on at Mercedes, limiting his upward trajectory, so he may be forced to spend a year on the sidelines in 2019 while they decide whether they want him to replace Bottas.

Another possibility is Williams, who have two open seats, but he may not fancy joining a team who are very much in the doldrums at the moment, and don't look like improving.

Williams

Lance Stroll is set to move to Force India, the team his father has just bought

Williams are one of Formula One's most illustrious teams, but at the moment there are not many drivers queuing up to drive for them. They sit rock bottom of the 2018 constructors' championship, and Lance Stroll is set to leave the team for 2019, with the possibility that he may leave mid-way through the season to get settled in at Force India (or whatever they end up calling themselves).

His current teammate Sergey Sirotkin has not really impressed in the championship, with only two points to his name, but the team reportedly like him and are likely to keep him on (an additional benefit is the money he brings in through sponsorship and being a pay driver). If they do retain the Russian then there is still one seat left for the 9-time champions.

Test Driver Robert Kubica was close to making his F1 return for the 2018 season with the team, so he seems like the obvious choice, although he made recent comments to the effect of 'I wouldn't advise any young drivers to join Williams at the moment', so he might not particularly fancy slogging around at the back of the grid, when there is a small possibility of a big drive opening up at some point in the next few years (no current contracts can run beyond the 2020 season, due to none of the teams bar Renault being contracted to the sport beyond then, so there could be a free for all in a few years).

Another option would be George Russell, the current leader of the F2 championship. But he is a part of Mercedes' young driver program, and many teams are unwilling to sign him due to uncertainty over how long they would be permitted to have him.