Carlos Sainz Jr has been named as Fernando Alonso’s successor at McLaren. The twice world champion Alonso announced on Tuesday that he had decided to leave McLaren and “move on” from F1 at the end of the season and Sainz will now replace his fellow Spaniard for the 2019 campaign.

Sainz told the team’s official website: “I’m delighted to finally be able to confirm that I’ll be a McLaren driver from the 2019 season. It’s something I’ve been looking at for a while and I’m very excited about this next chapter in my career.

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“I’ve been a McLaren fan for as long as I can remember. It’s a great name in the sport with an incredible heritage, and the list of drivers that have raced for McLaren over the years are among the heroes of Formula One.”

Sainz, 23, began in F1 at Toro Rosso in 2015 after his apprenticeship in karting, Formula BMW, Formula Three, GP3 and Formula Renault 3.5. He moved to Renault at the end of the 2017 season and is 11th in the world championship standings.

Sainz said: “It’s particularly special that I’ll be taking his [Alonso’s] seat as part of the next generation of Spanish racing drivers behind the wheel of a McLaren. I’d like to thank everyone at McLaren for giving me this opportunity to fulfil a childhood dream.

“The team has a long-term plan for the future and I’m very much looking forward to playing a key role in its journey back to success.”

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McLaren Racing’s chief executive officer, Zak Brown, said: “We’re incredibly excited to have Carlos join us as a McLaren driver. We’ve been assessing him for some time now and rate him very highly among the next generation of young talent emerging through the ranks in Formula One.”

McLaren will announce its full driver lineup for the 2019 season in due course, with Stoffel Vandoorne potentially under pressure after only seven top 10 placings from 33 F1 races. Earlier this month it was announced that Daniel Ricciardo was taking Sainz’s seat at Renault after opting to leave Red Bull.