Toyota Gazoo Racing confirms new line-up for 2019-20 season
Toyota Gazoo Racing has today announced that New Zealand’s Brendon Hartley will replace Fernando Alonso in the team for the upcoming 2019-2020 WEC season.
Hartley – a double WEC World Champion and 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans winner - will join Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima, Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López as an official driver for the Japanese team from round one at Silverstone (1 September 2019).
The driver line-up for each car will be confirmed in due course.
On behalf of everyone at WEC, we would like to wish Fernando every success in whatever he chooses to do next and a warm “welcome back” to Brendon!
Brendon Hartley commented: “A big thanks to Toyota Gazoo Racing for giving me this opportunity. I know how professional and motivated this team is following my years competing against them in WEC, so I am fired up and am very happy to be joining them. I believe I am returning to WEC an even stronger driver following my experience in Formula 1 and I look forward to getting on track and building a strong relationship with my new team. I can’t wait to get behind the wheel of the TS050 HYBRID; the first tests can’t come soon enough.”
Fernando Alonso concluded: “I have enjoyed being part of Toyota Gazoo Racing in WEC but this chapter is ending. Winning Le Mans is one of the highlights of my career as part of my Triple Crown challenge and I will always remember that victory which we achieved together as a team last year. Now is a good time to take on new challenges and there are many interesting opportunities to explore within Toyota Gazoo Racing.
“I wish Brendon all the best for next season and I would like to thank all the team members for the big effort they continue to make to achieve success in WEC. We still have two important races remaining as we are still in the fight to become WEC World Champions and I will be pushing hard to win both of them. I would love to put an end to this super season by celebrating a new world title with all the Toyota Gazoo Racing family. Finally, I’d like to take the opportunity to say thanks to all WEC and ACO members for such a warm welcome and experience.”
