Vandoorne and Ocon set to tell IndyCar no (2nd Update)

Vandoorne said IndyCar was too dangerous without a Halo

UPDATE This rumor is upgraded to 'fact' today. Stoffel Vandoorne says he will only agree to return to formula one if he is offered "favorable conditions".

The Belgian has lost his place at McLaren and acknowledges that his chances of finding another seat are basically "zero".

Rather, Mercedes' new works team in Formula E is expected to name him as a driver on Monday.

"Breathing in some new air will make me feel good," Vandoorne told the Belgian broadcaster RTBF, as he hinted about his impending Formula E move.

"The last seasons at McLaren were not easy, and the team had its worst years ever."

Ocon nixes racing in IndyCar. We hear he'll get paid at least $1 million to race in Formula E

09/27/18 Esteban Ocon has nixed any notion of racing in IndyCar. Therefore, Ocon has been removed from our 2019 IndyCar Silly Season page.

And we will soon be removing Vandoorne from our Silly Season page as well.

(GMM) Stoffel Vandoorne looks set to keep his motor racing career alive in Formula E.

The Belgian has lost his McLaren seat for 2019.

He told the Belgian broadcaster RTBF at Sochi: "At this moment there is nothing decided but in my head I know exactly what I would like to do.

"I think we are getting closer to a decision. Formula E is a possibility, but we have received a lot of other offers from other categories as well."

It is believed Vandoorne is referring chiefly to Indycar, but the strong rumor is that he has agreed to move to Formula E to race for Mercedes' works team.

"Mercedes? It's you who said it rather than me," he smiled. "But it is obviously a very, very good manufacturer that I don't need to tell you about," he said.

"I was in contact with Toro Rosso but it's no longer an option. I am pretty sure I will not be in formula one next year. Actually the chances are almost zero," added Vandoorne.

Dale Coyne eyeing two F1 drivers

09/21/18 AR1.com has listed Stoffel Vandoorne on our 2019 IndyCar Silly Season page alongside Fernando Alonso in the McLaren F1 team. However, the McLaren team is not the only IndyCar team Vandoorne is talking to.

Dale Coyne Racing has approached McLaren Formula 1 driver Stoffel Vandoorne over an IndyCar seat for 2019, in a move the team's boss believes the Belgian is "cautiously interested in".

Team boss Dale Coyne is in talks with its 2017 drivers Pietro Fittipaldi and Santino Ferrucci, but told Autosport he has spoken to Vandoorne.

"We've talked to him, although I don't know where it will lead, if anywhere," Coyne told Autosport. "But I'd say he's cautiously interested."

Asked if discussions had been about the whole IndyCar season or just road and street courses, Coyne said: "The whole season, yeah."

Coyne added that the Wickens shunt had affected driver interest.

"It's affected all of us, hasn't it?," he said. "People understand about laying it all on the line for the Indy 500 and everything that comes with it.

"But racing in front of 12,000 people at 220mph at some of these other tracks, it's fair to ask what we're doing, why we're doing it.

Coyne is also very interested in Esteban Ocon for a potential IndyCar drive, as is Schmidt Peterson Motorsports as it seeks to fill the void left by Wickens next year.

Its shortlist also includes Vandoorne and Pascal Wehrlein, who recently ended his Mercedes association ahead of his loss of a DTM drive when the manufacturer quits the series at the end of 2018.