F1: 2019 Driver Line-Up Predictions 

The summer break is coming to an end, 12 of the 21 races are over, and Lewis Hamilton leads Sebastian Vettel by 24 points in the Championship Standings. A lot of things have happened in the summer break, as Daniel Ricciardo shocked everyone by deciding to leave Red Bull Racing team and joining Renault next year, Fernando Alonso announcing that he would not be racing in F1 again in 2019, Force India being bought by Lance Stroll's father, Pierre Gasly being promoted to the senior RedBull team ahead of Carlos Sainz, and Sainz himself joining McLaren to replace Fernando.

There are still a few more places up for grabs, as Haas, Force India, Sauber, and Williams haven't even confirmed both their drivers for the next season, and there is one seat available in Ferrari, McLaren, and Toro Rosso. There are some drivers who have a lot to prove in the second half of the F1 calendar, while there are a lot of young prodigies, waiting for their chance in the grandest stage of racing. Let us look at how the teams are likely to stack up next year.

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#10 Williams Mercedes

Will Robert Kubica complete his fairytale comeback by driving in F1 next year?

Current Driver's lineup for 2018:

Will Robert Kubica complete his fairytale comeback by driving in F1 next year?

Current Driver's lineup for 2018:

Lance Stroll ( CAN )

Sergey Sirotkin (RUS)

Williams has had a disastrous 2018 till now and is not looking to make any progress anymore. With a very young, and a debatable driver lineup, Williams has looked really weak. Both their drivers are termed by many as "pay drivers" as they brought huge sponsorships along with them, and with a driver as good as Robert Kubica being the reserve driver, expect some changes next year for sure.

Lance Stroll is most likely to be leaving Williams very soon, in fact as early as the Italian Grand Prix, and that seat may be filled by Robert Kubica for the rest of the 2018 season. Williams hasn't been financially very stable recently and with Sergey Sirotkin comes sponsors, so they would not like to remove him from the seat.

Robert Kubica may complete his fairytale comeback this season, but it will be very difficult for him to keep a seat next year again with Mercedes pushing for one of their junior drivers to be part of the Williams F1 team.

Expected Driver's lineup for 2019:

Sergey Sirotkin (RUS)

Esteban Ocon (FRA)

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#9 Sauber Ferrari

Charles Leclerc at the F1 Grand Prix of France, 2018 where he took his Sauber to the first Q3 in Qualifying in 3 years

Current Driver Lineup for 2018:

Charles Leclerc ( MON )

Marcus Ericsson ( SWE )

Sauber Ferrari has been running at the back of the grid since quite some time and it was expected that it would rarely get into the points this season too. But the young Monegasque, Charles Leclerc, who was drafted into the team because of the Ferrari deal with Sauber, has been a revelation. He has driven his Sauber to the first Q3 in 3 years and has scored points inconsistently this year.

Charles Leclerc will replace Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari next year as decided by the former Ferrari CEO, Sergio Marchionne. Charles Leclerc may be termed too young to handle the pressure of driving a Ferrari but the youngster is very confident about the 2019 season.

Marcus Ericsson has not matched the rookie Leclerc in terms of performance this season and this may well give the Ferrari junior driver Antonio Giovinazzi a drive at Sauber alongside Raikkonen for 2019.

Expected Driver Lineup for 2019:

Kimi Räikkönen ( FIN )

Antonio Giovinazzi ( ITA )

#8 Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda

Can Brendon Hartley save his seat at Toro Rosso next year? Or rather this year?

Current Driver Lineup for 2018:

Pierre Gasly ( FRA )

Brendon Hartley ( NZ )

Opting for a Honda engine for the 2018 season was a really tough decision which Toro Rosso had to take since Honda has been very unreliable in the 3 years of partnership with Mclaren. The engine is much more reliable this year and seeing the progress the sister team has made with the new engine, Red Bull Racing has also agreed to partner with Honda from next year.

Pierre Gasly's stunning drive to a 4th place finish in Bahrain has been one of the best drives of the year and similar performances in Monaco and Hungary made the decision of promoting him to the senior Red Bull team easier after Daniel Ricciardo's move to Renault.

Although Pierre Gasly has done very well this year, same cannot be said about Brendon Hartley. He has been unlucky at times and hasn't lived up to the potential. There have been numerous reports that he may not even last the entire 2018 calendar but because of the major reshuffle, it seems like Brendon Hartley may save his seat next year, even though there has been reports of Jean-Eric Vergne, current Formula E champion also having talks about joining an F1 team next year. Red Bull currently doesn't have a lot of young drivers in their programme left with an FIA Super License, and they may have to get someone from out of their programme to join the team.

Expected Driver Lineup for 2019:

Brendon Hartley ( NZ )

Stoffel Vandoorne( BEL )

#7 Haas Ferrari

Can Haas become the best of the rest next year?

Current Driver Lineup for 2018:

Romain Grosjean ( FRA )

Kevin Magnussen ( DEN )

Haas started really strong this season with a car often termed as a duplicate of Ferrari SF70h of 2017 but haven't performed as well since. Being relatively such a new team, they are doing really well in the midfield and with Kevin Magnussen being in the form of his life, they are not likely to tinker with the driver lineup. Kevin has scored the majority of the points that Haas has scored this season, and finished with incredible 6th place finishes in Spain and France, and going even better in Bahrain with an unlikely 5th.

Romain Grosjean, who hadn't scored any points until the French Grand Prix, seems to be back in form with stunning drives to be 4th and 6th in Austria and Germany respectively. It will be difficult for Haas to leave a driver of his calibre and experience, and someone who has been so loyal to the team since their debut.

So Haas would not like to change their plans with the driver lineup, but will work more on the production team as Gunther Steiner (Team Principal) has often stated that they do not have sufficient spare parts if the drivers are involved in any crash.

Expected Driver Lineup for 2019:

Sergio Perez ( MEX )

Kevin Magnussen ( DEN )

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#6 Force India / Racing Point Force India

Sergio Perez is the only driver out of the top 3 to stand on the podium at Azerbaijan F1 Grand Prix this year.

Current Driver Lineup for 2018:

Esteban Ocon ( FRA )

Sergio Perez ( MEX )

Force India has had a crazy season so far in 2018, with the team going into administration (a move initiated by Sergio Perez) and then subsequently being bought by Lance Stroll’s billionaire father, Lawrence Stroll. Force India will be racing with a new name, Racing Point Force India, and they will also be losing all their constructors championship points and will have to start from scratch in Spa Francorchamps.

They have had a mixed season when it comes to their performances though with strong drives in certain circuits while not going past Q1 in qualifying in some others. The 2 drivers in the team have been doing very well this year too, with Sergio Perez being the only driver out of the Top 3 teams to secure a podium in Baku. Sergio Perez with the wealth of experience and the sponsors he brings is in no doubt of leaving Force India anytime soon.

The young Frenchman, Ocon has also been doing well this season too, with a 6th place finish in Monaco. Esteban Ocon is a Mercedes junior talent, regarded very highly by the likes of Toto Wolff and he is confident that he will be racing for the senior Mercedes team very soon. Even though Ocon has had a good season with Force India, it looks difficult for him to keep his seat for next year. In fact, according to reports, Lance Stroll is going to replace him from the Italian Grand Prix this year. The only place for Ocon to go next year would be Williams as all the other teams look pretty much settles.

Expected Driver Lineup for 2019:

Sergio Perez ( MEX )

Lance Stroll ( CAN )

#5 McLaren Renault

Fernando Alonso won the 24 hours Le Mans and is just 1 win away from completing the Triple Crown of Motorsport Racing.

Current Driver Lineup for 2018:

Fernando Alonso ( ESP )

Stoffel Vandoorne ( BEL )

Now we are talking money. Fernando Alonso was promised a championship contender car in 2015 when he joined McLaren Honda. With no hopes of winning the F1 championship with McLaren, Fernando planned a full WEC season with Toyota this year. Now that he has won Le Mans 24 hours this year, he is running after the elusive Triple Crown of Motorsport Racing (Monaco Grand Prix, Indy 500, Le Mans).

Fernando Alonso announced his retirement on 14th August, 2018 from F1 as he plans to look at other options which probably includes complete the triple crown. He's also competing in the WEC super season, which will end at Le Mans next year.

With Alonso’s retirement, McLaren signed another Spaniard to replace him, Carlos Sainz Jr. Carlos who is currently driving for the Renault Works team, is pleased to be replacing Fernando and driving for McLaren which was his dream as a child.

McLaren though have a difficult decision to choose between Stoffel and the young Lando Norris to complete their lineup for next year. It is likely that one of them would be joining Toro Rosso as part of the deal to get Toro Rosso Engineer, James Key, to join the McLaren team as soon as possible, as they try to make a comeback again next year.

It is very likely that next year McLaren will have a driver lineup consisting of no F1 Champion champion since 2006.

Expected Driver Lineup for 2019:

Carlos Sainz Jr. ( ESP )

Lando Norris ( GBR )

#4 Renault

Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg have been fighting very close all season and are certainly proving to be the best of the rest.

Current Driver Lineup for 2018:

Nico Hulkenberg ( GER )

Carlos Sainz ( ESP )

When Renault came back to F1 as a works team in 2016, they finished 9th. They said they will work on the goal of getting a championship car by 2020. They finished 6th last year. They are currently comfortably best of the rest this year after the top 3 teams. Making progress and having a consistent driver of the pedigree of Nico Hulkenberg, has helped them considerably.

As Renault continue to improve year after year, Daniel Ricciardo announced the biggest shock of this season, that he would be leaving Red Bull and joining Renault next season. Renault were the second team to finalise on their driver lineup for next year after Mercedes, as Nico and Daniel would be fighting their way to reach the summit of motorsport racing, winning a championship in F1. Renault definitely got one of the best driver lineups for next year.

Expected Driver Lineup for 2019:

Nico Hulkenberg ( GER )

Daniel Ricciardo ( AUS )

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#3 Red Bull Racing

Toro Rosso And Red Bull drivers

Current Driver Lineup for 2018:

Daniel Ricciardo ( AUS )

Max Verstappen ( NED )

Max Verstappen has been earmarked for success since he was a teenager. In fact, he won his race in F1 when he was still a teenager. Though he has been very often criticised for his driving style, he still manages to amaze everyone. He has a multi-year deal with Red Bull and will stay there for at least 2 more seasons.

Daniel Ricciardo is someone who has come up all the way in the Red Bull family since his early days in motorsport racing. The Australian, who announced that he will be joining Renault next season, was in the form of his life in the first half of the season and it is cruel that he does not have a championship material car. Even without that, he has taken up 2 wins this year, a stunning drive in Monaco and a sublime drive in China.

Red Bull was always prepared for such a situation, one can know from their junior driver programmes, as Pierre Gasly was thrust into the F1 scene all of a sudden in the middle of 2017 season. He has performed exceptionally well this year, and it was a very easy decision for Christian Horner and Helmut Marko on who would be replacing Daniel next year.

Will the Red Bull Racing team be the same with a Honda-powered engine next year, after 12years of partnership with Renault?

Expected Driver Lineup for 2019:

Max Verstappen ( NED )

Pierre Gasly ( FRA )

#2 Ferrari

Time to go home and chill for Kimi Räikkönen next year? Maybe not.

Current Driver Lineup for 2018:

Sebastian Vettel ( GER )

Kimi Räikkönen ( FIN )

Sebastian is clearly the No.1 driver at Ferrari and Kimi has been unfortunate to listen to team orders to help Sebastian do well. Though that might be part of the deal that Kimi had with Ferrari, it is not a pretty sight seeing Kimi struggle and coming out unlucky almost every time. Kimi has made mistakes too, maybe he's just getting old and does not have the calibre to stay on top of his game all the time.

With Charles Leclerc doing such a great job in Sauber, it was imminent that he would be promoted to team up with Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari. The Monegasque will partner the German and has signed a 4-year contract with Ferrari.

With Alonso retiring this year, Vettel and Hamilton not having a lot of years ahead of them, we'll be seeing a Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc fighting out in the front for the championship.

Expected Driver Lineup for 2019:

Sebastian Vettel ( GER )

Charles Leclerc ( MON )

#1 Mercedes

Mercedes was the first team to confirm their lineup for the 2019 F1 calendar as they chose to retain both the current drivers.

Current Driver Lineup for 2018:

Lewis Hamilton ( GBR )

Valtteri Bottas ( FIN )

Mercedes have been dominating the sport since 2013, and this year too they are on top with Hamilton leading the championship standings. Bottas has been really unlucky this season, with certain victories stolen away from him due to a puncture in Baku and running out of time in Bahrain. Though Hamilton is leading the championship during the summer break, Bottas has managed to compete well with him and more importantly has been a good teammate to Lewis, often regarded as not the best teammate to have. With Mercedes almost certain to be fighting for the championship for the next 2 seasons before the 2021 regulation changes, it will be ideal to have Valtteri Bottas in the team. That is what happened, as Valtteri was given a contract extension for next year.

Lewis Hamilton’s contract was coming to end this year, and the driver market was holding up as they were waiting for Lewis to decide his future. Mercedes confirmed that Lewis will be in their team until 2020, and that paved the way for other things to happen, as Daniel Ricciardo moved to Renault, Sainz decided to go to McLaren and Pierre Gasly will be promoted to Red Bull.

Will we see anymore shake ups in the driver market this year? Maybe. Hamilton may do what Rosberg did in 2016, deciding to call it a time to his illustrious F1 career which may force Fernando to come back to F1. Anything can happen in F1. Keep checking for updates at Sportskeeda as we bring you the latest from the world of F1.

Expected Driver Lineup for 2018:

Lewis Hamilton ( GBR )

Valtteri Bottas ( FIN )