McLaren has confirmed that it has appointed Sergey Sirotkin as its reserve driver, with the ex-Williams racer now holding the position at two Formula 1 teams.
Sirotkin, who raced for Williams in 2018, was appointed Renault reserve driver for 2019, taking up a role he held through 2016/17.
On Friday it was confirmed that an agreement had been reached for Renault’s engine partner McLaren to also take up an option on the Russian’s services.
In the unlikely event of both Renault and McLaren needing a reserve driver at the same event then the French marque will have priority.
"McLaren is a legendary team and I’m happy to have this opportunity to work with them, join their history, see from the inside how the team and drivers work," said Sirotkin, who competed for SMP Racing in the latter stages of the 2018/19 World Endurance Championship.
“This is an expedient solution for McLaren in 2019,” said Andreas Seidl, McLaren Team Principal.
“Sergey is a known quantity, has the necessary superlicence points and is formally aligned to our engine provider, Renault, so he is the obvious candidate.”
McLaren also has double World Champion Fernando Alonso, whose official role is as ambassador, and development driver Sergio Sette Camara on its books, both of whom have already tested the MCL34.
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