Who is driving for Mercedes in 2019?

The Silver Arrows will be on the hunt for more Formula 1 history next season as they begin 2019 looking to match Ferrari's record for consecutive constructors' championships. On the back of five clean sweeps, it's difficult to see anything other than success coming their way with Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas at the wheel. We profile the 2019 Mercedes driver line-up.

LEWIS HAMILTON

Hamilton may well have a Mercedes drive available to him as long as he decides to continue in Formula 1, having established himself as one of the all-time greats in the past half-decade. With four titles won in that period, it's no surprise that Hamilton has surpassed most of the previous F1 greats in that period.

Statistically, only Michael Schumacher stands ahead of Hamilton now, but the German's records for titles (7) and race wins (91) are now within reach of the 33-year-old – who says he is not expecting to slow down any time soon.

Having seen off challenges from Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel in recent years, Hamilton says he is energised by potential scraps with Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, but is confident that his experience can win out – somewhat remarkably, Hamilton will be the second-oldest driver on the grid in 2019, with only Kimi Raikkonen above him.

VALTTERI BOTTAS

The difficult second season proved exactly that for Bottas as he failed to reach the same heights as the previous year, where he had looked like a potential title challenger in the early months.

Poor fortune characterised Bottas' early efforts of 2018, likely wins in China and Azerbaijan taken away by circumstances out of his control, but a repeat performance in 2019 will likely not be enough to see Mercedes exercise the option written into his latest contract, signed in July 2018.

With Esteban Ocon waiting in the wings, and George Russell now firmly on his F1 path, Bottas has highly rated Mercedes juniors snapping at his heels, so the Finn may be fighting like never before in 2019.