Vandoorne will bring 'fresh ideas' to Mercedes

Stoffel Vandoorne is confident he can bring "fresh ideas" to Mercedes in 2019 as he combines simulator duties at the Silver Arrows with a Formula E campaign next year. Vandoorne is taking part in the fifth season of the all-electric series with the Mercedes-affiliated HWA team.

Although Vandoorne struggled across two years in Formula 1 with McLaren, Mercedes chief Toto Wolff remains suitably impressed with the Belgian, and was reportedly key in his move to HWA.

As he prepares to assist race weekends for Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, Vandoorne hopes to leave a lasting impression on the Silver Arrows.

"I will be involved with them," Vandoorne told F1's official website.

"That's an exciting part for me as well, to still be involved in the F1 world and to be with the world champions. For me, it will be a very interesting move.

"I'm sure I can bring them a lot of fresh ideas, but also for me to see the differences there are, because I've only worked with McLaren in Formula 1.

"So it's exciting for me as well to kind of have a bit of a fresh environment."

Vandoorne could well be at the front of the queue when Mercedes' factory team joins FE next year, but he has seemingly not ruled out a future with the Silver Arrows' F1 team.

"It's definitely good to keep involved in the world because you never know what happens in the future," he added.

"I think to be involved with Mercedes and to perform the work for them, it's good that they will know exactly what I'm capable of doing.

"And we don't know what the driver market is going to do in the future.

"It was a bit crazy this season and who knows what it will be next season. It's hard to tell. So it's good to be involved and to be prepared for anything that comes up."

MORE: McLaren out to avoid repeating Vandoorne mistakes
MORE: Vandoorne's Formula E debut couldn't have gone much worse...