Driver Market: my thoughts, and predictions

With the season finishing, the 10 teams have finalized their driver pairings for the 2023 season. Earlier this year I had made a list of predictions, stating what I believed the teams would look like next year. Many teams made surprising changes while some others kept their line-up the same. Let's see how my predictions turned out, and if I w not why I believe the team made that decision:

Red Bull, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Mercedes

All these four teams had been set before my predictions so the teams are staying the same. Red Bull with Max and Sergio. Ferrari with Charles and Carlos. Aston Martin with Alonso and Stroll. Lastly, Mercedes with Russel and Hamilton.

McLaren

Prediction: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri

Line-up: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri

This prediction was a bit of a bold one, with Daniel still having his contract for 2023, yet Oscar

Alpine made me feel as if Oscar had already signed with McLaren which ended up being true. Oscar has made a huge gamble here. Former World Champion Nico Rosberg says "It is either he [Oscar] beats Lando or he’s out basically of the sport, so it’s tough". The McLaren is very hard to handle as Daniel has proved so I believe Lando will come on top, we'll see. Lando seems quite comfortable in McLaren and it's no secret that the team is ready to keep him. As he enters his 5th season with the team and in the sport, his improvement had definitely been noticeable. Lando happened to be the only person on the podium this last year who wasn't part of the big three (Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull).

Alpine

Prediction: Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo

Line-up: Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly

Alpine is kind of like a mystery, they have the weirdest turns and twists and you just never know

when they're going to stop. Knowing that Alpine was running out of options I decided on Daniel because of his history at Renault and Daniel truly is the heart of F1. I didn't see him leaving, or going to another team so Alpine it was. Not a great reason, I know. Yet, Pierre, of all people Pierre. It makes sense on paper, a French team, with two french drivers, that should equal great sponsors. I'm sure it does, yet F1 drivers are not known to be very selfless and to get over their rivalries quickly. Esteban and Pierre have had a rivalry ever since their karting days. And unless we want a repeat of Nico and Lewis, they're going to have to really work on it. Other than the rivalry, Pierre is leaving AlphaTauri the place where he going, his bestie Yuki, and it's also where he got his first win, the team's only win! Unfortunately, he blew his chance at going to Red Bull so this move may have been hard, but was something he needed to do. Mercedes see a very bright future in him and are also looking to add him to their team, so I'm not going to be surprised if he joins their academy soon.

Williams

Predictions: Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant

Line-up: Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant

Oh, this one feels good to get right. Alex is set to stay with the team for "2023 and beyond" so he's

not going anywhere. Nicholas Latifi well he's Goatifi for a reason. He's the goat in making things go terribly wrong, in other words crashing in the worst possible scenarios. Williams no longer needs the money his dad was giving them so they rightly let him go. The reason that I believe both myself and Williams believes that Logan is the best choice, is because quite frankly he's fast. Just one year in F2 and he had collected all the Super License points needed. He also happens to be the first American F1 driver since Alexander Rossi in 2015. With more Americans watching the sport (mainly due to Drive To Survive) this is a great opportunity as they have a seasoned driver in Alex and a rookie who had proved to adapt fast to new cars.

Alfa Romeo

Predictions: Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou

Line-up: Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou

This line-up does not surprise me. Valtteri is a veteran who has tons of knowledge and has been teaching Guanyu well. Valtteri is in a stage where if he leaves Alfa Romeo he's retiring, and nobody's going to pick him up. Guanyu just finished his rookie season and Franz is very patient and is also good at training rookies, as proven with many other drivers including Charles. Guanyu is given another season and I believe that he's going to improve greatly, just this year he had some amazing moments and was progressing very well.

Haas

Predictions: Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher

Line-up: Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenburg

This line-up on the other hand is one that I still don't understand. First, K-Mag showed up

this season after a year off and destroyed everyone's expectations. He has a multi-year contract so is not going anywhere. In Gunther's words he really "made a true Viking comeback". Now to Mick, he's good, very good, just not F1 quality. When we saw him against Mazepin he looked amazing, but now seeing how brutally K-Mag beat him has shown us that he's just not up to the speed needed for F1. Mick also just left the Ferrari academy and joined the Mercedes academy, ironically following the path of his father. I don't blame Gunther for dropping him. Although bringing Hulk into the mix is a choice I would not have made. Yes, Hulk is seasoned and knows F1 well, but he's never been on the podium in all his years while his partners in equal machinery were able to. In my opinion, I think that maybe taking a rookie that Kevin can take under his wind, maybe Théo Pourchaire or Felipe Drugovich. Kevin and Nico also don't happen to have the history so we'll see how that pans out.

AlphaTauri

Prediction: Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson

Line-up: Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck De Vries

AlphaTauri is making changes that I did not expect. First of all, I just never saw Pierre leaving, which is what led me to

think Yuki would be let go for some team change. That being said, I am glad Yuki isn't leaving, although I'll miss their hilarious encounters as teammates I'm glad they're both still in the sport. In my opinion, Liam is a highly underappreciated driver, and thought that maybe Franz would give him a chance. Nyck, well Nyck has been the talk of the paddock for months hasn't he? He's team hopped for quite a few races and ended up signing with AlphaTauri. It's no secret that Nyck's good and I think as long as starts to fit in fast and performs well, his age shouldn't make too much of a difference.

With that, we have our grid for the 2023 season complete. With 3 rookies, veterans, and many drivers who are in the middle we are sure to have a great season. See you soon!