Vandoorne rejects Toro Rosso

Stoffel Vandoorne has revealed that he had rejected a possible offer from Red Bull to join Toro Rosso as a replacement for Daniel Ricciardo during the 2014 season.

Belgian Vandoorne who is currently succesfully competing in the Formula Renault 3.5 championship is part of McLaren's Young Drivers Programme since his switch from Formula Renault 2.0 at the end of last year.

With one race to go, this weekend at Barcelona, Vandoorne is still in the title hunt, gathering interest from Red Bull, who have approached him to join Formula One.

"The proposition of Red Bull would have been only for one season, and we are looking into the long term. After some talks with my management, they have advised me to stay with McLaren. I am convinced that this will be my best option to eventually get into Formula One".

While talking to Belgian newspaper Le Soir, Vandoorne could however not say anything about his furture beyond this season.

"After Barcelona (this weekend), we will see what our options are. I might stay in Formula Renault 3.5 for another year with the title then being my only purpose. Otherwise there is an option to do GP2, but that doesn't differ much from FR3.5 and is not interesting to McLaren"

"I could as well make the step for Formula One as a reserve driver, but we will see".