McLaren boss Zak Brown says he is still actively looking for an F1 seat for Stoffel Vandoorne. The Belgian driver was informed he would no longer drive for McLaren in 2019 earlier this week and will be replaced by junior driver Lando Norris for next season.
The McLaren man was quick to sing Vandoorne's praises despite replacing him for next season, and with seats finally filling up, a future in F1 grows more unlikely by the day for Vandoorne.
"We consider him family, he's been outstanding to work with," Brown is quoted by ESPN as saying. "Hopefully he lands in Formula One, that's where I think he deserves to be, but we have some other racing activities that you guys know we are reviewing and I wouldn't hesitate to keep Stoffel in the McLaren family if there was a seat available and he had a desire to race in it.
"I definitely think he's a Formula One calibre driver and if I was Toro Rosso -- who appear to have two open seats -- I'd put Stoffel in in a heartbeat. I think we've had a very poor race car for two years.
"Someone like Fernando can adapt quicker, he's got so much experience. Stoffel was very close to Fernando, a lot closer than some other teammates as Fernando commented. Stoffel is an outstanding race car driver. Ultimately we look to the future and feel Lando's a future star. I think in a different environment Stoffel may excel more, and with a better race car.
"If I look at his debut races, besides Bahrain which was an impressive debut, but the 2017 season he was going to race tracks and losing practice sessions ... so I'm not sure he ever really got the opportunity to get into a groove. When you have a teammate like Fernando who can draw on that experience and I think is recognised as one of the best guys out there, Fernando's going to adapt to that situation quicker."
The unlikely route for Vandoorne would be a drive for Toro Rosso as Red Bull are looking in-house to replace Pierre Gasly who is off to Red Bull next season. A possible option would be a move to Sauber, with Vandoorne's manager having close ties with the team and team principal Fred Vasseur a big fan of Vandoorne's talents.
Outside of F1, a possible return to Super Formula could happen but a run in IndyCar looks unlikely with Brown dismissing that notion quickly.
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