McLaren: Two young drivers 'a risk'

McLaren chief Zak Brown has commented on the potential driver line-up for the 2019 Formula One season and believes that having two younger drivers behind the wheel would be a "risk" for the team in its current state as the car simply isn't fast enough to accommodate a lack of experience.

With Fernando Alonso's future still up in the air and with speculation mounting that he could opt to leave F1 for the World Endurance Championship, McLaren will be required to recruit a new driver.

When quizzed by reporters what type of driver McLaren would be targetting, whether it be younger, older, elite of mid-range, Brown responded with "all of the above".

Although he did not completely knock back the idea of having another young driver next to Stoffel Vandoorne, he thinks it would be a risky strategy as they are still in the process of evolving their car.

“It's difficult to get set in any one particular direction because so many pieces move,” the McLaren F1 CEO said.

“In situations like this you need to keep every door and every avenue open and wait for some dominoes to fall. Sometimes it's in your control, sometimes it's not.

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“We know our situation with Stoffel. We’re seeing what other opportunities may or may not be available, seeing what ultimately Fernando wants to do.

“It's also about the package – experience and youth – especially in the situation we're in.

“Because we're rebuilding, to have two young drivers in our car wouldn't be a great place to be.

“If we had a better racecar then you might take a risk with two younger drivers because you've given them good racecars.”

With Alonso and Vandoorne currently behind the wheel, McLaren are seventh in the constructor's championship for 2018.