Formula One: Silly Season is Here!
Sergio Perez could scarcely have imagined a better weekend, when his win at the Grand Prix of Monaco was followed by an announcement from Red Bull that the Mexican driver would remain with the team for at least two more years after signing an extension through 2024.
This will bring to an end a streak of “Who is going to be in the other Red Bull seat?” that has gone back to the days of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, and 2023 will be the first time in a decade that the team has had the same driver pairing for three years in a row.
Baring the unexpected (such as a Lewis Hamilton retirement), all three top teams will keep their lineups intact for next year, and only Hamilton’s contract is set to expire following 2023.
The lack of availability for jobs at the front of the grid sets the potential for a wave of change through the remainder of the teams, with both drivers and team managers having much to consider.
Of the remaining seven teams, only McLaren has two drivers signed for next season. But every week brings more whispers and rumors regarding the possible fate of Daniel Ricciardo, who has thus far failed to produce anything approaching positive results with the team.
Should McLaren choose to move on from the Honey Badger, one option would be Pierre Gasly, who seems to have no future on the top Red Bull team.
But McLaren also has been repeatedly linked to young IndyCar stars Pato O’Ward and Colton Herta, although the organization and O’Ward seem to have settled on his immediate future being in the American series, and Herta may not yet be able to qualify for a super license.
Also on the young driver front is the heavily regarded Oscar Piastri, who after winning the F2 championship in 2021 is spending this year as a reserve driver for Alpine.
Alpine is locked into Esteban Ocon for 2023, which means if it wants to bring its young phenom onto the team full-time, they would need to end their relationship with Fernando Alonso, who has continued to show the talent is still there, but might not be the right fit for a team looking more towards the future.
They also could loan Piastri to another team, most likely Williams, who currently have neither driver signed beyond this year. Williams and their somewhat mysterious owner Dorilton Capital have stated that they no longer need a driver with significant monetary backing to finance the team (although whether they *want* such a driver may be a different story).
If that's the case, that would likely spell the end of the Formula One career of Nicholas Latifi, who has regressed this year to the point of being a complete non-factor.
Other options for Williams include continuing with Alex Albon (who is still technically under contract with Red Bull for 2023), or Dutch driver Nyck De Vries, who has received positive reviews from the team after participating in testing sessions.
Alfa Romeo has Valtteri Bottas signed to a multi-year deal and has yet to make any comments regarding the seat currently occupied by Zhou Guanyu, who could return for a second campaign.
Another possibility would be current F2 driver Théo Pourchaire, who was rumored to be in consideration for this year before team principal Frédéric Vasseur announced he felt it would be too risky to put the 18-year-old in the brand new car with little opportunity for testing (Pourchaire will get a test session with the team later this year).
Besides the locked-in Lance Stroll, Aston Martin’s 2023 plans seem to revolve around whether Sebastian Vettel wishes to continue his Formula One career, or at least continue with the team.
The most likely scenario appears to be both drivers returning. If Vettel were to decide to retire or look for other options, Aston Martin would likely look for another veteran such as Gasly or Alonso.
Haas should be very happy with the performance of late addition Kevin Magnussen, who was signed to a multi-year deal, but may be running out of patience with Mick Schumacher.
The son of former F1 great Michael Schumacher has been rapidly pushing the team towards the series' enforced budget cap with the repair costs from his encounters with various solid objects.
A rumor recently made the rounds that Schumacher could replace Vettel at Aston Martin, but the Stroll-owned team denied any truth behind it.
Haas has yet to have much action going in the rumor mill regarding a possible Schumacher replacement, though with the success of Magnussen, the team might consider bringing Nico Hülkenberg back to the series full-time, who at the very least could keep the car on the track.
The final pieces of the puzzle lay with Alpha Tauri, and with parent team Red Bull in no immediate need of a call-up and no young drivers bashing down the door.
Rather, their preference appears to be to stay with their current line-up (although both are currently unsigned). Gasly could depart the team if another opportunity opens up, which would probably necessitate the organization making a choice from their flock of Formula Two drivers.