F1 Driver Market: a further sign of Ferrari’s political weakness?. A further sign of Ferrari's political weakness?.

A veil of mystery remains on what will be the new teammate of Valtteri Bottas at Alfa Romeo starting with the 2022 Formula One season, because if it is certain that former Scuderia Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen will retire at the end of the current championship, thus putting an end to his long career as a driver.

For Ferrari-backed driver Antonio Giovinazzi, who signed a contract to race full-time for Alfa Romeo Racing in 2019, the future still appears very uncertain. The young Italian driver showed great skills in qualifying for the Dutch Grand Prix, but bad luck has always followed him (as underlined by Sticchi Damiani himself at the press conference for the presentation of the 2021 Formula 1 Heineken Grand Prix of Monza) which is why he might not see himself reconfirmed in Alfa for next year as well.

Antonio Giovinazzi could lose his place following the entry of Nick De Vries right next to Valtteri Bottas, which would be really very strange given that Alfa Romeo F1 is a satellite Ferrari team. Certainly the friendship between Toto Wolff and French motor sport engineer Frédéric Vasseur has never been a mystery, but seeing a Mercedes protégé and a former Mercedes driver joining a team that usually launches talents before they arrive at Scuderia Ferrari would be very unusual, perhaps a further sign of Ferrari’s political weakness.