Stoffel Vandoorne has conceded that his chances of remaining on the Formula 1 grid next year are “very slim”, having lost his seat at McLaren.
Vandoorne graduated to Formula 1 off the back of a distinguished record in junior single-seaters that included the GP2 title and wins in Formula Renault 3.5 and Super Formula.
Vandoorne scored 13 points to Fernando Alonso’s 17 during his rookie campaign that coincided with the final year of McLaren’s partnership with Honda.
But he has amassed only eight compared to the 44 gathered by Alonso in 2018, the last points finish coming in Azerbaijan, and has dropped out in Q1 across the last seven Grands Prix.
McLaren last week confirmed that Vandoorne will be released at the end of the season, replaced by Lando Norris, with Carlos Sainz Jr. having already secured a 2019 seat at the outfit.
“At the moment no, I’ve nothing fixed for next year,” Vandoorne said during an F1 Live broadcast on Facebook.
“We’ve seen a pretty crazy driver market over the last couple of months.
“Obviously the chances to remain in F1 are very slim, there’s not a lot of options left on the grid and they’re reducing day after day almost.
“But until the last day we’ve got to keep faith and keep believing there is a chance. There’s a lot of talks going on but nothing fixed so we’ll see.”
Vandoorne also suggested that he would be able to demonstrate his new potential if given a new start in a different environment.
“I’m still the same driver as I was before,” he commented.
“I can still win races and fight for championships and I feel like having a chance in the right environment would help out a lot let’s say.
“[But] we’ve seen doors closing over the past few days and this is unfortunately the situation what it is.”
