The contracts for almost half of the drivers in the F1 starting field in 2022 will expire at the end of the eagerly awaited season. At least one driver from every single team except Mercedes and McLaren currently only has one year under contract. This means that the silly 2022 season will be extremely exciting and no doubt eventful.
BREAKING: Guanyu Zhou will line up for Alfa Romeo in 2022, becoming China’s first full-time #F1 driver
Alex Albon will return to Formula 1 this year on a one-year contract with Williams. The Thai-British driver gets a second chance to show his talent on the track after being seated for a year in 2021. His teammate at Williams, Nicholas Latifi, is also running out next year. Meanwhile, Chinese racing driver Guanyu Zhou will make his Formula 1 debut with a similar contract with Alfa Romeo, replacing Antonio Giovinazzi, whose contract expired in 2021. Zhou will also need this season to prove himself with a year in hand.
The two Alpha Tauri drivers Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda will be out of the contract until the end of the 2022 season if it is not renewed. Gasly certainly wanted to get promoted to Red Bull earlier as there were some mega-drives going on throughout the year. Tsunoda, on the other hand, was surprised to get an extension to 2022 after an inconsistent rookie year to say the least.
The contracts of Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez also expire at the end of next season. All three drivers have played a key role in bringing their respective teams to where they were at the end of 2021. Alonso took his first podium in seven years in Qatar along with many commendable performances throughout the season. This ensured that his team, Alpine F1, came out on top in the midfield constructors’ battle against Alpha Tauri. Meanwhile, to everyone’s surprise, Sainz ended the year ahead of his team-mate with four podiums for Ferrari. Perez also played the role of the perfect winger and helped his teammate Max Verstappen significantly in his ultimately successful fight for the championship. So it won’t be a surprise if these three drivers’ contracts are renewed.
At the other end of the spectrum, Haas rookie Mick Schumacher will also be out of the contract at the end of the coming season. After signing the team as a substitute driver, the German definitely has his eye on a Ferrari seat in the coming years.
Teams rely on the new generation of F1 drivers with several multi-year contracts
Teams like McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull have placed great faith in Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc and George Russell and expect them to take their team to the next level.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was rewarded by the team for his form in the 2019 season with a five-year contract – the longest on the grid. He will drive for the Prancing Horse until 2024.
I am very happy to announce that I will be staying with @scuderiaferrari for another 5 years. I am so grateful to be able to drive for such a team. I learned so much in that first year with the team and it’s a great starting point to build a strong relationship for years to come.
I’m really excited to announce that I’ll be staying with @scuderiaferrari for another 5 years. I’m so grateful to be driving for such a team. I learned so much in that first year with the team and it is a great starting point to build a strong relationship for years to come.https: //t.co/3VPtbsCZT1
About the multi-year contract, Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto told Formula1.com:
“With every race this year, our desire to renew our contract with Charles became more and more natural and the decision means that he will now be with us for the next five seasons. It shows that Charles and Scuderia have a future together. ”
also readArticle goes below
The team from Maranello is traditionally not known for relying on a very young driver line-up. The announcement of a five-year deal with the Monegasque shocked the F1 community.
Sign in to reply
