The 2021 Formula 1 season will continue at the Belgian Grand Prix and, in addition to the raging title fight, talks about the driver market will dominate the headlines.
Traditionally, the summer break in August is the time when most discussions (if not already done) between teams and drivers about their plans for the following year get underway. With a lot of uncertainty and potential for change in the starting grid, there are some big decisions about to be made.
Here is an overview of the situation of each team and the current state of the driver market in 2022 …
Mercedes
With Lewis Hamilton signing a new two-year contract, Mercedes is faced with a dilemma as to who should partner with the seven-time world champion next season.
Related articles
Valtteri Bottas and George Russell are in a direct shootout for second seat at Mercedes, and there is a growing consensus in the paddock that the German marquee is ready to promote its protégé after a series of star appearances for Williams.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff wants to make a decision by September to ensure that the driver who doesn’t get the nod has enough time to sort out a trip for the next year.
Even if the last call comes earlier – or has actually already been made, as some suggest – Mercedes could not officially pass the message on during its extremely close title fight against Red Bull.
Related articles
Red Bull
Finding a suitable teammate for Max Verstappen has been the biggest challenge for Red Bull since Daniel Ricciardo left at the end of 2018.
Despite having had similar difficulties adapting to the Red Bull car as his predecessors, Sergio Perez has made the strongest argument yet.
Perez has already achieved something that Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon failed to achieve with a race win before him, but he was unable to repeat his performance in Baku.
Perez’s results have been solid enough and he has already built a strong relationship with Verstappen and dutifully acts as the Dutchman’s rear gunner in his fight against Hamilton when prompted.
Red Bull is giving Mercedes a tough challenge in the world championship fight, but hopes Perez will take another step in the second half of the year to claim their first world title since 2013.
There’s plenty of time to change things – after all, Red Bull waited until mid-December last year to call their second driver for 2021 – but at that point, Perez seems likely to get an extension.
Ferrari
Ferrari will be settled with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, who, according to team boss Mattia Binotto, form the best driver line-up on the F1 grid.
Leclerc is tied until 2024, while Sainz signed a two-year deal when he joined McLaren over the winter. Given the Spaniard’s impressive first half at Ferrari, both drivers will stay for the foreseeable future.
McLaren
Like Ferrari, McLaren has two drivers who have signed long-term contracts. After an excellent start into 2021, Lando Norris has put a new “multi-year” extension on paper to stay with Woking “beyond 2022”.
Teammate Daniel Ricciardo, a seven-time Grand Prix winner, has signed a three-year deal with McLaren this season. Both Ricciardo and McLaren are confident he can overcome his early troubles as the Australian is aiming for a title challenge as early as 2024.
alpine
The newest Formula 1 race winner Esteban Ocon recently secured his future in Formula 1 with a new deal to stay with Alpine until 2024, while two-time world champion Fernando Alonso is on track to stay for at least one more season.
Alonso’s F1 comeback was largely influenced by the upcoming regulations revision and the Spaniard agreed on a one-plus-one deal on his return to Enstone.
AlphaTauri
Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda appear to be keeping their AlphaTauri seats for 2022, with team boss Franz Tost indicating at the Hungarian GP that he “sees no reason to change our driver line-up during the summer break”.
A possible return to the senior squad doesn’t seem in sight for Gasly, although waiting longer for a decision on Perez’s future would delay the announcement of AlphaTauri’s own drivers.
Despite an inconsistent and tumbling first half of his rookie F1 season, Tsunoda remains highly respected in the Red Bull hierarchy and the entertaining Japanese youngster’s place at AlphaTauri looks safe for now.
Should anything change, Albon could be handed an F1 lifeline while Red Bull has some highly rated youngsters like Juri Vips, Liam Lawson and Jehan Daruvala in their Formula 2 youngster books.
Aston Martin
Don’t expect any changes at Aston Martin. Sebastian Vettel already has a contract until the end of 2022 and it is almost certain that Lance Stroll – son of team owner Lawrence – will continue alongside the four-time world champion.
Williams
Williams believes it is in a strong position in the driver market as it awaits a decision from Mercedes before trying to sign someone for 2022.
Russell remains Williams’ first choice for next year, but the Grove-based team won’t get in Russell’s way when Mercedes calls.
Nicholas Latifi sees himself well positioned to stay in the other seat after impressing Williams with his performances so far in 2021, although the prospect of an entirely new cast cannot be entirely ruled out.
Should Russell leave, Williams has a long list of potential candidates to replace the Briton. Bottas, Nico Hülkenberg and Daniil Kvyat could all find themselves competing, while Formula E champion Nyck de Vries has also been linked.
Alfa Romeo
As Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi both left their contracts at the end of the year, there could be at least one change at Alfa Romeo.
Alfa Romeo team boss Frederic Vasseur was spotted by Mercedes in the hospitality of Mercedes during the GP weekend, fueling speculation that Bottas will join the Swiss team if he loses his seat to Russell.
A move from Bottas would likely mean the end of Raikkonen’s F1 career, while Giovinazzi’s future remains uncertain despite a solid start to the season.
Ferrari test driver Callum Ilott is waiting in the starting blocks should a seat open up, as are other future Ferrari prospects, including F2 leader Robert Shwartzman.
Sauber protégé Theo Pourchaire is an outsider bet, although a second year in Formula 2 seems more realistic for the record-breaking 17-year-old Frenchman.
Haas
Although Mick Schumacher is linked to Alfa Romeo, the German will stay with Haas for his second F1 season, where he will be partnered with Nikita Mazepin.
Lineing up an unchanged line-up was always part of the American squad’s plan when the rookie duo was originally announced for 2021. Haas is in no rush to officially confirm this, but news will likely come soon.
The post How is the state of affairs on each team? first appeared on monter-une-startup.
