After only five races held in 2022, talks are already starting about the driver market for next season. Many drivers will see their contracts expire at the end of the year and a non-renewal could trigger a domino of transfers and disrupt the grid.
Alonso between renewal, Red Bull and Aston Martin
One of the hottest names right now is Fernando Alonso. The Asturian, returning from a very unfortunate start to the season, is linked to Red Bull and Aston Martin for the upcoming championship. The XNUMX-year-old Asturian recently said he wants to continue to compete in the Circus for a few more years, even if his contract with Alpine is about to expire.
As for Red Bull, team principal Horner has already denied the landing of the Spaniard, praising Sergio Perez for his work in these first five races. The Mexican, in his second year in the Milton Keynes team, is third in the league with 66 points (22 more than in 2021) but does not yet have a contract for next season.
Vettel in Indycar: suggestion or reality?
Aston Martin, on the other hand, seems to be a more plausible hypothesis. The current top driver of the Silverstone house, Sebastian Vettel, had declared during the winter break that he would renew only if the team was fighting for important positions. The situation seems to be different at the moment and the German four-time world champion has expressed his admiration for "real circuits" such as Road America (a fixed stage in Indycar) rather than Miami.
The Rahal family, owner of a team in Indycar, she offered to let Vettel drive his own car. If the Heppenheim driver were to accept and appreciate the test, it is not to be excluded his passage in motorsport with stars and stripes for 2023.
In that case, Aston Martin could replace one veteran with another. A move between Alpine and the former Racing Point would not be new, as demonstrated by the move of team principal Otmar Szafnauer and main sponsor BWT from the Enstone home to Silverstone at the start of the season.
Despite the various assumptions, it is still probable that Alonso will remain in Alpine. According to some British newspapers, the French-English team would already have a two-year renewal ready for the Asturian, who could therefore end his F1 career with the same team that made him win his two titles, albeit with a different name .
A chance for Piastri
The fight for the pilot to join ad Esteban Ocon (who has a contract until the end of 2024) therefore appears to be between Alonso and Oscar Piastri. The young Australian talent, winner of the Formula 2 championship in 2021, is currently the third driver for the Enstone team. If Alonso were to leave, Piastri could be promoted to race driver. If not, there has been talk of a possibility in Williams, in place of Nicholas Latifi.
The drivers market is still in a very early stage and it is early to draw any conclusions. What are now only rumors, however, could soon become reality.
