Sainz would 'suffer' against 'beast' Alonso

Pedro de la Rosa has warned Carlos Sainz Jr against joining the "beast" Fernando Alonso at McLaren in 2019. Sainz is reportedly McLaren's top target for 2019 as Stoffel Vandoorne looks likely to leave after being soundly thrashed by the two-time world champion this season.

With Daniel Ricciardo set to commit to Red Bull and Renault lining up Esteban Ocon for 2019, Sainz is on the hunt for a seat next season.

Sainz has scored consistently with Renault this season, but trails team-mate Nico Hulkenberg by 22 points in the drivers' championship.

Lining up with his idol Alonso would appear to be a dream move, but De la Rosa has warned that Sainz could end up in a nightmare scenario, as Vandoorne has after being outqualified by his veteran stable-mate in every race so far in 2018.

"A dream? I think it would be better if they were not together," former McLaren driver De la Rosa told Cadena Ser.

"Being Fernando's teammate is very difficult, so I prefer that someone other than Carlos suffers. I would prefer if Carlos gathers two or three more years of experience and then face a beast like Fernando.

"If Renault makes the mistake of letting Carlos go, he has still earned his place in F1."

Switching his attention to the battle for honours at the front of the grid, De la Rosa expects the title race to go right down to the wire as Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel continue to take points off each other.

"Mercedes is winning where Ferrari should, so the great drama for Vettel is that despite having the best car he has 24 points less," said de la Rosa.

"There's still a long way to go and everything will be decided over details at the last race."