F1: 5 Possible Alonso Replacements at Mclaren

As the 2018 Formula 1 season nearly reaches the halfway point, it can only mean that for all 10 teams they must start deciding who will be in their driving seats for next year.

There may be a handful of seats already confirmed for 2019 including the obvious of Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes and Sebastian Vettel at Scuderia Ferrari.

But there are still many seats up for grabs and the one that everyone is talking about is McLaren's Fernando Alonso.

The Spaniard is apparently not very happy with his current situation at McLaren after so far picking up no race wins or podiums since his return to the team in 2015.

This year could be Alonso's last season with McLaren and it may be his last ever time in F1.

Especially with rumours of the two time world champion moving to Indy Car for 2019 in his quest to win the triple crown as all that is missing in honouree belt is the Indy 500.

So who could be Alonso's successor for next season?

Let's take a look at five possible replacements, shall we...

#5 Valtteri Bottas

Bottas to McLaren?

It would sound very unlikely that Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas would take up a role at McLaren when the Fin is currently at a more advanced team.

But Bottas' situation currently leaves him with no contract for the 2019 season at Mercedes.

In recent rumours of his team mate Hamilton on signing an extension with the silver arrows, it has been said the Briton requested that Toto Wolff and the Mercedes team kept hold of Bottas.

Both Hamilton and Bottas have proven to be very good teammates since the pair joined together at the start of 2017 after Nico Rosberg's surprising move of retiring from the sport.

Surely Bottas will be staying put at Mercedes for another year though?

#4 Charles Leclerc

Leclerc has been very impressive in his rookie season

Another link that may well be very unlikely but Charles Leclerc is one of the most talked about drivers on the grid at the moment.

He may only be 19 years old but many sense a future world champion in this one.

With Leclerc racing for Sauber Ferrari at the moment, it would make very much sense for the man from Monaco to join Scuderia Ferrari in the near future.

Whether it will be next season or the year after, it would be a big move for someone who has only participated in eight races in his F1 career so far.

There have been rumours floating around that Alonso may rejoin Ferrari and be Sebastian Vettel's new team mate.

It's not exactly a partnership that would be easy to handle for the bosses at Ferrari but you have arguably the two best drivers on the track.

Could McLaren change Leclerc's destiny?

#3 Kimi Raikkonen

Raikkonen back at McLaren?

Kimi Raikkonen's days at Ferrari look to be numbered.

It's fair to say the Finnish racer has had an uneventful 2018 so far by doing what he does best and that is picking up podium trophies and extra points for Ferrari while giving up the number one spot to his team mate Sebastian Vettel.

Raikkonen and Vettel's partnership has without doubt been a strong one but with the possibility of them signing up Charles Leclerc on what should be a pretty cheap and easy deal, then it's a no brainer to let Kimi go.

BT Sport recently published an article that Raikkonen could go back to McLaren.

Raikkonen drove for McLaren from 2002 to 2006 before he moved to Ferrari for a first of two spells at the Italian team.

McLaren might just be the 38 year old's only option if he was to stay in F1 for another season.

#2 Daniel Ricciardo

Ricciardo and Alonso

If the last week or two has taught us anything in the world of Formula 1, it's the never-ending rumours of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo ditching Ferrari and Mercedes contracts for a diverted move to McLaren.

If Ricciardo was to pull off a big surprise move to McLaren, the contract is believed to be worth over $15 million which is $8 million more than what he earns now.

But surely if the Australian had any sense he would reject any offers from McLaren when you look at their current status.

McLaren has become a team of empty promises and there's no guarantee they'll be competing for titles any time soon.

Ricciardo would look better to be staying put at Red Bull for 2019 after their recent partnership engine agreement with Honda.

#1 Lando Norris

Lando Norris with his colleague Alonso

Lando Norris looks ready and waiting to be a Formula 1 driver but that can only happen once a seat is available to him.

The 18-year-old is currently competing in Formula 2 for Carlin Motorsport and has had a rather impressive motorsport career so far.

Norris won the MSA Formula Championship back in 2015 before going on to be victorious in the Toyota Racing Series, Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup in 2016.

He also received the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award in 2016 too.

The young Briton said in a recent interview that his future is determined by what Alonso chooses to do.

It could be likely that Norris could partner up with Stoffel Vandoorne.

Which driver do you think could replace Fernando Alonso for 2019? Comment below.

---

Follow Sportskeeda for the latest F1 News, Results, Standings, and Schedule