It’s Grand Prix day this Sunday in the Netherlands. In front of his audience, Max Verstappen (Red Bull) stands out as the big favorite for victory but also for the title of world champion, he who is 93 points ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez. The fight for the final crown seems folded but this end of the Formula 1 season is nonetheless worthy of interest. Several drivers are still in the dark about their future in the premier class. Will they keep their place in their stable? Will they take advantage of a departure to recover a seat from a rival? With eight Grand Prix to go, it is not so easy to plan for the following season.
Who to replace Alonso at Alpine?
Without a doubt, the identity of the driver who will evolve alongside Esteban Ocon at Alpine appears to be the main question mark for 2023. Following the departure of Fernando Alonso from Aston Martin, the French team announced the signing of his reserve pilot, the Australian prodigy Oscar Piastri. However, the latter did not hear it that way and firmly denied the information a few hours later, stressing that no contract had been signed with the French team. “I will not drive for Alpine in 2023,” he said.
Remarks officially confirmed this Friday by McLaren who endorsed the arrival of the Australian alongside Lando Norris for the coming season. “We take note of the decision. (…) We consider that the case is closed on our side and we will announce our complete duo of pilots for 2023 in due course”, Alpine reacted soberly.
As a result, the team led by Otmar Szafnauer could recover another Australian in the person of Daniel Riccardo, pushed out by McLaren. It would actually be a return since the 33-year-old driver had already evolved under the colors of Renault, which then became Alpine, between 2019 and 2020 for a rather disappointing record. Despite the trifle of eight Grand Prix victories in his career, the native of Perth appears clearly on the decline and it is not certain that Alpine will win the change in view of the very successful performances of Fernando Alonso this season.
Among the other leads, the name of Frenchman Pierre Gasly comes up regularly but the 26-year-old driver is under contract until the end of 2023 with AlphaTauri and has never hidden his ambition to return one day to Red Bull. In addition, it is said that his relations with Esteban Ocon have been rather icy since their various clashes in karting.
The grid background stables, in blur
On the competition side, several team bosses will have to rack their brains to compose their driver duo for 2023. At AlphaTauri, in addition to a possible departure of Pierre Gasly, the question of whether or not to renew Yuki Tsunoda should quickly arise. “It’s up to him, he has to demonstrate it with good performances. If he succeeds he will stay, if he does not perform well he will leave. It’s as simple as that, ”said team boss Franz Tost in early July. Nothing is therefore fixed. The same goes for Mick Schumacher, Michael’s son, at Haas, but also for Guanyu Zhou, a Chinese driver who has just arrived this season at Alfa Romeo. As for Williams, the Canadian Nicholas Latifi is not satisfactory and should probably free up a seat in the British team.
Problems that the teams that play at the top of the grid do not know. Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes will start the 2023 season with the same forces present.