With Formula 1’s silly season is now over, as the 2022 F1 driver line-ups are now complete with Mercedes replacing Valtteri Bottas with George Russell, plus AlphaTauri confirming Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda for next season and Guanyu Zhou bagging the last remaining seat on the grid.
There were a few seats up for grabs on the 2022 F1 grid, namely at Alfa Romeo and Haas, with the latter keeping their 2021 driver line up for 2022, while the latter have replaced both drivers. Plus with the 2022 F1 cars being completely different having the right driver is sure to be key.
Lando Norris and Esteban Ocon both renewed their respective deals with McLaren and Alpine recently, and Lance Stroll has had his 2022 seat confirmed by Aston Martin, meaning will continue to partner Sebastian Vettel.
Mercedes shake things up for 2022
Hamilton renewed his contract with Mercedes for another two years at the Austrian GP and will stay with the Silver Arrows until the end of 2023 at very least. And now he will be joined by Russell in 2022 with the young Brit impressing during his three years with Williams.
Of course that means Russell will be replacing Bottas who signed a multi year deal with Alfa Romeo, essentially replacing fellow Finn Kimi Raikkonen who is retiring from F1 at the end of the 2021 season.
Stick no twist
Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, AlphaTauri, Aston Martin, Alpine and Haas will continue with their 2021 F1 lineup in 2022.
Sergio Perez signed an extension to his Red Bull deal which will see him partner Max Verstappen until 2023. Meanwhile at McLaren, Daniel Ricciardo has a deal until the end of 2022, and Norris’ recent extension means we are likely to see the Australian and Brit together for some time yet. Aston Martin have confirmed Vettel for next season, as well as Stroll.
The situation at Haas was rather strange given Nikita Mazepin’s father is bankrolling his seat at the team, but following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Haas decided to part ways with Mazepin and title sponsor Uralkali. Mick Schumacher will stay at Haas for another year at least, with Kevin Magnussen replacing Mazepin on a multi-year deal.
Last remaining seat
There was just one drive left for the 2022 F1 season which was at Alfa Romeo. As speculation grew that Antonio Giovinazzi would lose his seat with the team, and that came to pass as Chinese driver Guanyu Zhou makes the jump up from Formula 2, bringing an estimated €30 million euros in sponsorship money with him.
Meanwhile, Williams have confirmed a replacement for Russell with Alex Albon partnering Nicholas Latifi for the 2022 F1 season.
The 2022 F1 driver lineup
| Team | Driver | Driver |
|---|---|---|
| Mercedes | Lewis Hamilton | George Russell |
| Red Bull | Max Verstappen | Sergio Perez |
| Ferrari | Charles Leclerc | Carlos Sainz |
| McLaren | Lando Norris | Daniel Ricciardo |
| Alpine | Fernando Alonso | Esteban Ocon |
| AlphaTauri | Pierre Gasly | Yuki Tsunoda |
| Aston Martin | Sebastian Vettel | Lance Stroll |
| Alfa Romeo | Valtteri Bottas | Guanyu Zhou |
| Williams | Nicholas Latifi | Alex Albon |
| Haas | Kevin Magnussen | Mick Schumacher |
