After a flood of new driver announcements – and apart from major surprises on the driver market – there is only one place left in the Formula 1 field for 2022, namely the one next to Valtteri Bottas at Alfa Romeo. And while Ferrari is using his reserve driver Antonio Giovinazzi to keep the seat, Scuderia team boss Mattia Binotto denied that he would use Ferrari’s clout to enforce this decision.
Sauber / Alfa Romeo have been powered by Ferrari since 2010, with the two organizations traditionally maintaining close ties – with the Swiss squad serving in recent years to inspire Ferrari-backed drivers such as Charles Leclerc and Giovinazzi.
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But in the run-up to the Italian Grand Prix, Binotto denied that Ferrari had a significant influence on Alfa Romeo’s decision who will use Valtteri Bottas as a partner in the team for 2022 – the team had announced that the Finn would next year after five seasons with Mercedes would join them.
“I think this is really a team decision,” said Binotto of Alfa Romeo’s upcoming decision. “The team is really independent of the driver’s choice, which is also important for us.
Frédéric Vasseur: Alfa Romeo is considering drivers from ‘F2 and F1’ for 2022 seats
“It’s also clear that Antonio is our reserve driver for us, he’s an Italian, he’s part of the Ferrari family, he’s a Ferrari driver,” added Binotto. “So it will be great for us that he will still be driving next year. We believe he is a good driver and deserves to be seated next year.
“But as I said, we cannot influence the team decision. As a component supplier, I naturally think that we always evaluate the cooperation, the partnership with the team and the choice of driver. “
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Alfa Romeo team boss Fred Vasseur, together with his shareholders, is ultimately responsible for who will accompany Bottas in 2022. on the list, ”adding that reigning Formula E champion Nyck de Vries’ ties to Mercedes made the Dutch driver’s case more difficult.
“We have always said that we also want to watch the youth series,” said Vasseur when asked when a decision would be made. “You are racing two races in a row with Monza and Sochi and we will probably talk to my shareholders about this by the end of September.
Vasseur said De Vries’ Mercedes ties made it difficult to question that he was being considered for an Alfa Romeo seat
“Zhou does a good job in Formula 2 – he’s definitely on the list,” added Vasseur. “It’s not just because he’s Chinese. He’s a front runner in F2, he’s won a couple of races and I think every single team in F1 is [watching] him.
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“[With Nyck de Vries], that is certainly not the most pleasant situation. I think Nyck did a good job in the junior series. He won the F2 with ART [the junior category team Vasseur founded], He won Formula E this season and did a good job when he got into the [Mercedes] F1 car in Abu Dhabi.
“I know him very well because he has driven for ART for a few years in the past, but I think the situation at Mercedes is” [for whom De Vries won the Formula E title, while he remains one of the F1 team’s reserve drivers], it is not easy.
“There are five or six names on the list,” concluded Vasseur, “and let’s see.”
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