Carlos Sainz is set to be announced as Fernando Alonso’s replacement at McLaren before the end of this week, according to ESPN.
On Tuesday, the double world champion surprised the Formula 1 world by revealing he will leave the grid at the end of 2018, likely heading to America to compete in IndyCar as well as the WEC.
His fellow countryman has been linked to the Woking squad in recent months and saw his current Renault seat taken by Daniel Ricciardo for next season.
But rather than go in the other direction to Red Bull where he was expected to go, Sainz could well be following in the footsteps of his hero and mentor.
It is reported the 23-year-old could be confirmed as early as Thursday and has agreed a two-year deal taking him through to 2020.
The main question now is who will partner him with some believing Alonso’s departure could relieve pressure on Stoffel Vandoorne, who has struggled against the 37-year-old.
Fernando has continually defended the Belgian, recently claiming he much closer in terms of performance than many of his ex-teammates, something the stats have actually backed up.
Even so, CEO Zak Brown did have a warning for the 26-year-old.
“I wouldn’t say we’re disappointed by Stoffel. You’d like to see him beating his team-mate more often than he has,” he said.
“That’s the same in any situation. You’d love to see your teammates split right down the middle in beating each other every weekend.
“He’s not been able to do that on a regular basis but I wouldn’t say we’re disappointed because last year we know we gave him a very difficult situation and this year we’ve not given him a very good car to work with.
“Given Fernando’s talent and experience he’s able to adapt to situations that aren’t great.”
Some believe F2 challenger and McLaren junior Lando Norris could be in line for a promotion and the Briton tweeted “interesting” after Alonso’s news, but his American boss has hinted there would be one obstacle in his path.
“Because we’re rebuilding, to have two young drivers in our car wouldn’t be a great place to be,” he admitted.
“If we had a better racecar then you might take a risk with two younger drivers because you’ve given them good racecars.”