Silly season 2021-2022-2023

[DChemTech]

Rumour has it that De Vries has signed somewhere. After becoming the MB-FE champion that surely can only be at Mercedes. Also would ensure a warm welcome for the team at Zandvoort next year

The Rumour would be, that he signed at Alfa next to Bottas, and I read (a rumour of course) somewhere that Alfa might get Mercedes engines as well. Because there are then 2 Mercedes drivers.

Sure, but De Vries at MB would be a lot more entertaining (in terms of reactions here)

[Manoah2u]

Imagine De Vries getting the MB seat after Hamilton suddenly and surprisingly decides to call it quits after getting his 8th title and mentions he has permanent lung covid and then DeVries-Russell is the 2022 pair. And then De Vries destroys Verstappen and becomes the first Dutch F1 WDC.

It's silly season, but this would break the internet.

[Jolle]

Imagine De Vries getting the MB seat after Hamilton suddenly and surprisingly decides to call it quits after getting his 8th title and mentions he has permanent lung covid and then DeVries-Russell is the 2022 pair. And then De Vries destroys Verstappen and becomes the first Dutch F1 WDC.

It's silly season, but this would break the internet.

Who knows, maybe a good big moustache would suit Verstappen.

[cheeRS]

I lost my appetite for Bottas as a result of the "To Whom it May Concern" addresses when he occasionally won a race. Completely juvenile.

Bring on the next victim, I mean, teammate.

Yes, exactly that, and then he has been subpar on the material given to him.

He did not impress @ Williams and so he won't impress @ Alfa either.
Kimi for example is a far, far faster and more complete driver and even Kimi didn't get much done there,
true that he probably had different motivation though.

I do think Bottas will do better @ Alfa compared to Mercedes due to the lack of pressure,
but i still think he won't do much better than what he ever achieved @ Williams.

Anyway, 100% Russell @ Mercedes but we all knew that. Very happy with that.

Now the big question remains:

Who will sit next to Bottas @ Alfa, and whom will sit next to Latifi @ Williams?

In theory, Schumacher is contracted @ Haas - but he is a Ferrari driver and the seat next to Bottas @ Alfa is supposedly a Ferrari seat, so that transfer might still happen.

There are ever growing rumours that De Vries has a contract for 2022, which is interesting.
Two dutchmen in F1 is interesting, and especially with the current 'orange vibe' that is very marketable,
and though i don't believe de Vries is Russell/Verstappen etc. material, we could be surprised in the end.
I remember when he was a little boy overjoyed that Mclaren picked up on him.

The thing is, de Vries is a Mercedes driver. So quite frankly, i do not see him @ Alfa when there's already a Bottas there. That would mean Alfa Romeo-Ferrari houses TWO Mercedes drivers.
If that happens though, then there is going to happen more - it can't stay Alfa-Ferrari right?

So it would stand to reason that the most logical place for a de Vries seat would be Williams.

The thing that topples my mind however is that there are signs Albon is a very serious contender there,
and that's something i don't really understand either way. It's said that Wolff himself wants Albon to break all ties with RedBull for him to sign with Williams.

Now that is what confuses me. Toto does have a huge share in Williams iirc, but afaik he has no saying in general what happens @ Williams - except for a deal where Mercedes brings engines to Williams and Williams opens up a seat - which is what happened with Russell.

SO, if de Vries supposedly has a serious seat for 2022 - whom is a merc driver, and Albon is NOT - then how can there be talks of Albon @ Williams and not de Vries?

Which - oddly enough - would imply that de Vries somehow indeed will end up @ Alfa Romeo. Again, something i cannot grasp, especially concidering i would be inclined to think Ferrari would put Mick Schumacher @ Alfa over de Vries, but that obviously leaves a seat @ Haas open.

It seems either way that Giovanazzi is not going to be participating @ Alfa for the 2022 season.

Am I the only one who thinks Schumacher is not going to make it?
So far I have seen little to put him above any of the others, sometimes including Mazipin

Yeah, you're the only one that thinks that.

[koenigzig]

Toto has been very blunt about not wanting Albon at Williams as a Red Bull driver driving a Mercedes powered car. Wouldn't the same logic apply at Alfa Romeo for De Vries?

Alfa extended their deal with Sauber for 2 more years, and following that announcement Vasseur stated that the team has a free choice of drivers ( until 2021 Ferrari had the right to 1 of the seats). However, he also mentioned that they would discuss with Ferrari.

Link: https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/alfa ... 2/6631150/

Vassuer also made a statement at Zandvoort saying he would prefer a non-rookie driver lineup owing to limited number of test days.
Link:https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/alfa ... n/6659929/

Which makes me think De Vries to Alfa is highly unlikely.

Rumor is Albon will sign the Williams contract this week. If that happens, I'd bet De Vries stays in Formula E for 1 more year. If Albon gets bamboozled out of that drive, he could be an option at Alfa Romeo (not a rookie albeit a Red Bull driver).

Schumacher has not yet signed the Haas deal for next year (Guenther mentioned before the summer break that the contract is ready but they are finalizing details) and considering how things are going with Mazepin, I doubt Ferrari would keep him there when there is a shot at Alfa.

Considering all of the above, my 2 cents :

Williams: Latifi and Albon/De Vries
Alfa Romeo : Bottas and Schumacher
Haas : Mazepin and Shwartzman ( Callum and Nikita dont really have a rosy past, and this makes it an all Russian line-up while having a Ferrari academy driver)

[holeindalip]

No way Williams will be going ferrari powered especially since they just signed up for more listed parts from merc and gearboxes for 2022, Alfa-Romero is strongly tied to Ferrari isn’t it?

[ringo]

I think Albon and Bottas is a strong pairing. Alfa should try and get albon. Should be a nice bridge to compare two known factors.

[qatmix]

Albon will go to Williams, but will have to cut any ties with Redbull.

He owes them nothing anyway.

[DChemTech]

Imagine De Vries getting the MB seat after Hamilton suddenly and surprisingly decides to call it quits after getting his 8th title and mentions he has permanent lung covid and then DeVries-Russell is the 2022 pair. And then De Vries destroys Verstappen and becomes the first Dutch F1 WDC.

It's silly season, but this would break the internet.

Oh yeah, that would be hilarious. . But of course, Haas will be champion in 2022 - they're the only one that focused on the 2022 car fully from the start

Anyway, slightly more serious note, I do expect that due to the Mercedes ties, de Vries will simply go to Williams, and I do not anticipate that Bottas to AR implies any changes to the engine supplier; I expect it's just because AR wants an experienced team leader that didn't do a half-bad job in half-bad cars (Williams), and Bottas was the way to go. That also more or less excludes a Hulk-return, unfortunately.

[Santozini]

Just saw it on another thread

This would spin things around

[adrianjordan]

Just saw it on another thread

This would spin things around

https://i.ibb.co/pyF46yp/j3id02239s.png

With Russell stepping up to Aston... Makes perfect sense to me!!!

[politburo]

F1 teams really pile it on us all at once. Lat 4 days alone we've had more news in the last 5 months lol.

[Restomaniac]

Confirmed.

[dodds_turbo]

Russell to Mercedes confirmed. As we all knew (but it made for poor silly season banter).

[politburo]

Russell to Mercedes confirmed officially now, after Toto basically hinted at it all last week like some addition by subtraction type stuff. Next year Merc will be awesome, like Button vs Hamilton days.