Formula One's worst kept secret is out! Lance Stroll is officially confirmed to Force India for the 2019 season.
After Sahara Force India fell in to administration over the summer break Lawrence Stroll, Lance Stroll's father, along with other business men managed to relieve the British based team. However, after doing so the team was renamed to Racing Point Force India and had to restart their constructors championship points from zero. Even after doing so, Force India still managed to finish 7th ahead of Sauber, Toro Rosso and Williams.
Lance Stroll, who drove for Williams throughout this year, has now officially been announced as Force India's new driver. He will drive alongside Sergio Perez, who has driven for the team since 2014.
This news comes only days after Toto Wolff broke the news of Esteban Ocon, current Force India driver, becoming a Mercedes reserve and test driver. Wolff stated, "He is going to be pretty close to the Mercedes team - he will be our reserve driver and third driver. We hope to do the odd test with him, we are looking at pre-season and in-season but it's not sorted out yet."
Some rumours have already begun to circulate after Valtteri Bottas' mediocre year with only 8 podiums and no wins. Albeit Russia was torment for Bottas after team principle, Toto Wolff, gave the order to switch positions with teammate, Lewis Hamilton, ultimately denying Bottas the win. Adding to this, Bottas' contract runs out at the end of 2019 leaving an open door for Esteban Ocon to fit through... Ocon even stated, "Me and Mercedes, we see great opportunities for me to come back in 2020 so hopefully that will be the case and hopefully I will be back even stronger than I am now."
Lance Stroll drove for Force India in the end of season Pirelli test therefore, many were not shocked by the announcement today. Although, the cat was already out of the bag long before the Abu Dhabi test! Stroll released a statement earlier today, "This is the beginning of an incredibly exciting journey in my Formula One career. I look forward to working alongside a successful team with great culture. It's a new challenge and I am excited to embrace this new opportunity!"
With this announcement, the whole 2019 Grid is confirmed!
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