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How the 2019 grid will line-up

Published on 01 Dec 2018 17:07
5
By: Fergal Walsh

The 2019 grid has finally been completed after Lance Stroll was officially announced at Racing Point. Although there was never any doubt over the deal, the confirmation means that the 20 seats for the next season of F1 have been filled.

The transfer market was a busy one in the second half of the season, which saw just two teams retain the same line-up for 2019. Mercedes kept hold of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, while Haas felt no need to alter its roster of Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean.

Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly's promotions to Ferrari and Red Bull respectively will be two of the moves that will be in the spotlight next year. Daniel Ricciardo took the shock decision to leave Red Bull and join Renault, who is aiming to close in on the top three teams in the championship.

Robert Kubica will successfully complete his long-awaited comeback, signing a deal with Williams. Kimi Raikkonen returns to Sauber, the team he began his F1 career at, Carlos Sainz replaces his hero Fernando Alonso at McLaren, and Daniil Kvyat returns to F1 with Toro Rosso.

There will be a battle between the rookies to impress in 2019. Formula 2's top three finishers from the 2018 season will all take part full-time next year, while Antonio Giovianzzi gets his second shot at Sauber. Below you can see the full 2019 grid.

*Team*	*Driver*	*Driver*
Mercedes	Lewis Hamilton	Valtteri Bottas
Ferrari	Sebastian Vettel	Charles Leclerc
Red Bull Racing	Max Verstappen	Pierre Gasly
Renault	Daniel Ricciardo	Nico Hulkenberg
Haas	Kevin Magnussen	Romain Grosjean
McLaren	Carlos Sainz	Lando Norris
Racing Point	Sergio Perez	Lance Stroll
Sauber	Kimi Raikkonen	Antonio Giovinazzi
Toro Rosso	Daniil Kvyat	Alexander Albon
Williams	Robert Kubica	George Russell

F1 News Max Verstappen Fernando Alonso Valtteri Bottas Romain Grosjean Daniel Ricciardo Daniil Kvyat Lewis Hamilton Sebastian Vettel Kimi Räikkönen Sergio Perez Kevin Magnussen Pierre Gasly Antonio Giovinazzi Charles Leclerc Alexander Albon Lance Stroll Robert Kubica George Russell Lando Norris Gene Haas Red Bull Racing McLaren Racing Point Ferrari Force India Mercedes Renault Sauber Williams

Replies (5)

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
Many new fellas in again this year. How interesting.
- + 0
- Dec 1 2018 - 18:53
- f1fan0101
  
  Posts: 1,804
  set up to be a great season
  + 0
  
  Dec 1 2018 - 19:15
- Hepp
  
  Posts: 200
  And the PU's are more or less evening out. Chassis design more important now? Driver's setup? Should be interesting, indeed.
  + 0
  
  Dec 1 2018 - 19:16
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Im legit getting pumped for the next season
  Getting even, but not enough. We basically have a 2 tier system with the PUs, with Ferrari and Merc in tier 1, and Renault and Honda in tier 2. But as you say, chassis design will probably matter more, we saw this this year already, when a Merc team was beaten to a pulp. Next year will hopefully keep building on that.
  + 0
  
  Dec 1 2018 - 21:06
mcbhargav

Posts: 1,332
30% drivers with less than 2 years experience. 20% of drivers are rookies. Encouraging times for an F2 driver.
- + 0
- Dec 1 2018 - 21:03