The Official F1 2023 silly season *contains speculation*

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Lights out and away we go.


Out:

• Alonso
• Vettel
• Latifi

Clinging on

• Hamilton - one more year

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the-norseman said:

JonChalk said:

To be fair to Schumacher, it took him well over one full season to adapt to F2 - he's clearly not one of those guys who just gets in a car and is fast.

Wish I hadn't of written what I did above now... another DNF.

Personally I'll forgive any driver for errors at Monaco, it's claimed even the greatest.

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Pourchaire Is an Alfa driver isn’t he?

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My guess is Danny is on an option for 2023 subject to certain criteria relative to his team mate (and excluding mechanical failures, etc) and so is on notice that it won't be renewed.

Hence the comments about "contractual mechanisms", etc.

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With their backing they may not need Latifis money…

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Zhou was having a great race in Baku.

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Pflanzgarten said:

I'm sorry but Schumacher, nice enough as he is is an utter embarrassment in an F1 car.

I can forgive Monaco; even his dad got caught out there.

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I think it's good for a new driver to land in a car with low expectations, at least for one year. If expectations are low then it's easier to manage their profile.

At least I think it is valid in an era with almost not testing. The first year is then just a very extended testing.

Arguably Russell should have been promoted sooner.

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The upside is it is only 1 year; I wonder if Mercedes have an option for 2024 to fill the second Mercedes seat.

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Pflanzgarten said:

It is a bit of a shame for Kvyat, I always kinda liked him (yes I know not as much of a shame for the orphaned children of Ukraine).

He seemed much more likeable than Marzipan.

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For Ferrari (given the Italian press are getting aggressive)... who is the next team principal?

Who is the next Todt/Brawn who can provide the leadership and the protection for the team?

Someone from the existing pool of F1 leaders or from outside?

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Pflanzgarten said:

You could if someone was trying to buy it.

Apparently the IP is leased, so it isn't RB's to sell.

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Pflanzgarten said:

Interesting in why it wasn’t announced in Austria as I predicted-I’m still claiming that one in that case

Anti-cartel authorities don't care about press release dates. Trust me.

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_Yeti said:

Unless the team is trying to throw you out. Then any seat is better than none. Have to agree it's not an attractive seat at all.

Probably is attractive for Mick Schumacher.

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Fundoreen said:

I thought why rush it out before the 4 week break? but then if they hadn't the AstonMartin hols would have been disrupted by all speculation and the factory dustbins nicked and sifted through.

To stop another driver getting the place?

Alonso is a canny fox. He presumably wanted multi-year deal.

Where else on the grid was he going to get one?

Ferrari - nope
Mercedes- nope
Red Bull - nope (ditto AlphaTauri)
McLaren - nope
Alpine - N/A
AlfaRomeo - no idea, probably not
etc

So he was probably left with Williams, AM or HaaS. Given the new hires, AM is probably his best bet?

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rallycross said:

I think that about sums it up shame as he’s been great in this years Alpine.
It’s a right slap in the face for the team I wonder how the rest of the year will pan out for him can’t see him getting any preference over Ocon for the remaining races we might even see them coming together ( they very nearly did in the last race!)

The team will do whatever is needed to secure 4th; they aren't petty enough to start punishing Alonso, and it would be counterproductive.

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Oscar Piastri will drive for Alpine in 2023

Source - f1.com a few minutes ago, and also Alpine

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JonChalk said:

No comment yet from either Piastri or Webber, and some thought that this is just Alpine drawing a line in the sand - effectively saying no-one else has claimed him so he's ours, even if he doesn't know it yet.

Quite possibly. Any other contracts he has entered into with McLaren are his problem...

Or will they all end up in arbitration...

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The appalling outcome could be that Piastri ends up without a drive if the contracts get stuck in the courts...

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Well some contract lawyers are going to have a nice summer.