F1: Debutants of next season 

Alexander Albon - Toro Rosso Honda

Alexander Albon (Toro Rosso)

For a long time, the seats at Toro Rosso were up for grabs with no certain favourite who looked to have made a solid claim for the drive in 2019. His father was a racing driver and Albon becomes the second person who will be driving under the Thai flag.

He replaces the New Zealander, Brendon Hartley. The 22-year old Thai-British driver, a lifelong fan of 9-time motorcycle champion Valentino Rossi, took his permanent F1 driving number 23, as a tribute to the legend.

I’ve always been a Rossi fan but since I can’t replace the doctor himself, I thought I’d have half of it 😂😂 #quickmaths #AA23 pic.twitter.com/WaKGjYL5uE

— Alex Albon (@alex_albon) December 18, 2018

Having him on the grid means all top 3 drivers from Formula 2 in 2018 have graduated to seats in F1. Albon needs to watch his back as the Red Bull sister team. Toro Rosso has had a lot of driver changes over the last couple of years with non-performers being dropped mid-season not an uncommon occurrence.

He is a tough cookie though, having had Charles Leclerc as his team-mate and competed quite tightly with him.