Lewis Hamilton’s threat to quit Formula 1 could have important consequences for Australian young gun Oscar Piastri, according to one of the sport’s leading journalists.
Hamilton’s future is in doubt after the controversial end to the 2021 season, which saw Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claim the world championship at the Abu Dhabi finale.
When asked last week to confirm Hamilton would continue next season, team boss Toto Wolff was less than reassuring, despite the seven-time world champion having recently signed a new deal with Mercedes.
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“I would very much hope Lewis continues racing because he is the greatest driver of all time,” Wolff said.
“As a racer his heart will say ‘I need to continue’ because he’s at the peak of his game.
“But we have to overcome the pain that was caused upon him on Sunday. He is a man with clear values.”
Hamilton and Wolff both boycotted the FIA’s official prizegiving ceremony in Paris last week, with Wolff saying that the Brit “will never get over” what happened in Abu Dhabi, where Mercedes claims the proper restart procedures were not followed after a late-race safety car, effectively handing the world championship to Verstappen.
Should Hamilton not return, it would throw the driver market into turmoil, given all 20 seats are already confirmed for 2022.
Despite a wholesale overhaul of the sport’s rules for next season, Mercedes are expected to be frontrunners once again, potentially opening up one of the sport’s most coveted seats.
One of the drivers who would be seriously considered by Mercedes would be Esteban Ocon, who currently drives for Alpine.
Ocon won the Hungarian Grand Prix this year, the first win of his career, and more importantly, is managed by Wolff.
The Frenchman was the official reserve driver for Mercedes in 2019, before taking the race seat at Renault (now Alpine) in 2020.
If Ocon was to move to Mercedes for 2022, it would create a vacancy at Alpine, who recently announced Piastri as their reserve driver for next season.
“A deal to move Ocon to Mercedes would also free up a slot at Enstone (Alpine) that the team could instantly put in rookie Oscar Piastri,” wrote Autosport’s Jonathan Noble.
“The Australian’s stellar F2 campaign, that netted him the title in his first attempt, shows he has all the talent necessary to shine in F1.”
Piastri has been heavily involved in Alpine’s 2022 development, spending hours in the simulator, leaving him ideally placed to step into any vacancy.
Noble did concede however that Alpine may be reluctant to let Ocon leave, given the team’s other driver, Fernando Alonso, turns 41 next season and is expected to retire at the end of 2022.
Another option put forward would be for Mercedes to try to get Valtteri Bottas out of his Alfa Romeo contract, so he could continue for a sixth season at Mercedes.
Bottas was axed in favour of George Russell for next season, but a Bottas-Russell pairing would give Mercedes some continuity, as well as an eye to the future.
“(Bottas) would be the most logical choice were the team needing to find someone for the start of 2022,” Noble wrote.
“Of course a deal would have to be struck with Alfa Romeo, but its team principal Fred Vasseur and Wolff are very good friends – indeed they even spent time living together in recent years.
“Alfa Romeo could be open to some form of financial settlement as an interim solution.”
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