Stoffel Vandoorne's McLaren and Formula One future looks far from settled as F1 heads into a four-week summer break. The Belgian's future is far from confirmed at the team and according to Zak Brown, other options could be potentially explored as the team looks to improve back to former glory's.
Speaking to Sky F1, Brown admitted that whilst the team were happy with their current driver line-up of Fernando Alonso and Vandoorne, there were other options on the table that the team are looking at for 2019 and beyond.
"We have a long-term agreement with both Alonso and Vandoorne, but there are various elements in those contracts. We will announce our driver choice when we are ready, which is expected to be somewhere after the summer break."
A popular rumour as of late has been the arrival of Carlos Sainz from Renault. The Spaniard looks to be breaking ties with Red Bull as a return to Toro Rosso looks to be out of the question whilst Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen are at the senior team and with Alonso an apparent fan of his compatriot. Further fuel to the fire comes in the form of Esteban Ocon, who looks set to replace Sainz at Renault and partner Nico Hulkenberg at the team.
Brown admitted that Sainz was a good driver in his own right but that the situation with Renault and Red Bull meant that a deal was not yet concluded.
"Carlos is a great racing driver. Of course he is potentially on the market but I do not know his exact situation at Renault and Red Bull. He is certainly someone you are considering to put in your car. If he is free and we have a seat free, he is certainly high on our wish list."
A further alternative to both Vandoorne and Sainz could be the arrival of the highly rated Lando Norris. Currently racing in F2 for the championship against Mercedes' George Russell, Norris is tipped to have the talent and ability to become a success story in Formula One with McLaren, but his debut season may have to wait with Fernando Alonso's future also up in the air.
"We are waiting for what Fernando is planning, because this is about the total picture," Brown said.
"We want to link experience to young talent, especially in the situation we are currently in. We are in full build-up, you do not want to put two young drivers in a difficult car. If we had a better car, you can already take the risk to choose two young drivers."
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