TL;DR:
- Carlos Sainz, though sources say Aston Martin, Sauber, Alpine and Williams are potential teams where he could land
- Alex Albon
- Fernando Alonso, if he ever get lured from Aston
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Esteban Ocon, whom is managed by Toto Wolff
Bottas back to Merc
Sainz to replace him at Sauber soon to be Audl
Hulkenberg and Zhou Guanyu exchange seats to give Audi their German driver.
Haas gets a big pocket Chinese sponsor and puts red livery on their car.
Everybody is Happyโฆexcept Andretti
Surprisingly no one seem to mention Mick Schumacher (who I have forgotten about until I saw him in a meme this morning), even though Toto made sure that he appeared alongside him at every GP ๐
But not in a Merc he doesnโt!
You mean that Mick doesnโt deserve (as Toto calls the car) a โshitboxโ?
Those merc garage appearances (like he did for Ocon and De Vries) are Toto being a driver manager, not Toto being a team boss.
I see a 0.5% chance that Merc hires Schumacher as GP driver.
I see a 0.5% chance that Merc hires Schumacher as GP driver.
Probably depends on his performance driving for Alpine in WEC
Iโd pick Ocon over him, they just need a stopgap until Antonelliโs ready. But Gasly should be in contention too, he had a better season in his first year. Albon is just overrated by likeability.
I know they are famously bad at contracts, but isnโt Ocon contracted for a while at Alpine?
I thought of him first thing when I heard the news, but posting that, at least on Reddit, always gets a hoard of haters going.
I mean, in theory they have a lot more options than that.
Contracts expiring at the end of 2024 includeโฆ
Somewhat likely that Merc would consider them:
- Gasly
- Tsunoda
- Hulkenberg
Probably not:
- Bottas
- Perez
Certainly not:
- Sargeant
- Zhou
- Magnussen
What about Ocon?? He already has merc connections and isnt his contract expiring in the end of 2024 as well. He might not be the best choice though because he always clashes with his teammates.
I would probably put Mag on an equal footing with Hulk? Either would be happy to take the seat.
Gasly hasnโt being doing too well, not sure his rep is as good as it once was.
Daniel Riccardo if he doesnโt get an RB contract. So unlikely since I donโt see Perez surviving the โ24 season. He might not even finish the season. Seriously I predict that if Perez canโt consistently finish right behind Verstappen he will be out during the summer. With new regs coming in โ26 RB doesnโt want to take the risk with a second driver who canโt even finish second in a car that can finish 30 seconds ahead of the entire grid.
What Opinion do Mercedes have on Toto?