Zak Brown confirms Carlos Sainz 'on list' for 2019

Ahead of this summer's driver merry-go-round, McLaren chief Zak Brown has been discussing his team's options for a vacant seat, stating that they are aware of Carlos Sainz's abilities and that the driver is 'high' on their list of options for 2019.

With Stoffel Vandoorne's indifferent form and Fernando Alonso's refusal to commit to next season, with other options available to him, at least seat at McLaren being available for 2019 seems a certainty.

After losing out on Daniel Ricciardo to Renault after being 'close' to signing him, so Brown has claimed, the search is on for an alternative, and Sainz ticks a lot of boxes for the team.

After the Hungary Grand Prix, Brown said: "We think Carlos is an excellent race car driver. Carlos is potentially on the market, I don’t know his exact situation at Renault and Red Bull, but he is certainly someone, when you go down the shortlist of drivers that you consider putting in your race car if he was free.

"If we had a seat, he would certainly be high up on our consideration list."

There is young talent waiting in the wings at McLaren, particularly the highly-rated Lance Stroll, who is itching to take the step up following a series of eye-catching performances in other disciplines.

But Brown refused to be drawn on Stroll and added that his reported contract situation, which suggests that he will be allowed to leave in September if he is not driving in F1, is more complicated than it appears.

He added: ""We think Lando is obviously a future star. When you have a driver like Lando you want to keep him in the family. What’s been reported [on his contract] I wouldn’t say is as black and white as what’s been said."