Alpine and Oscar Piastri are waiting for the results of the Contract Recoginition Board to hear where the Australian will drive in 2023. It seems McLaren will be his destination, but with this soap opera Silly Season is far from over. GPblog lists the most important next steps for you.

Piastri soap

The case between Piastri and Alpine is the soap opera of Formula 1. Alpine thinks it is entitled to the services of the Australian, but the Alpine junior has signed a contract with McLaren. Piastri and the British team think Alpine has no leg to stand on, which is why Daniel Ricciardo 's contract was bought out.

Assuming that Piastri is indeed allowed to race for McLaren in 2023, Silly Season is far from over. After all, Alpine does not have a replacement at hand. Pierre Gasly seems the ideal candidate. A Frenchman and a proven F1 talent with the necessary experience, but there are snags in that deal. Gasly has a contract with Red Bull and Esteban Ocon and Gasly were once childhood friends, but that relationship broke down and has not yet recovered.

Ocon himself opted for Mick Schumacher as a teammate, but does the number four in the Constructors' Championship want a driver who is discarded by Ferrari and Haas? Besides, Schumacher is clearly beaten by Kevin Magnussen, so he does not seem ready to step up yet.

Daniel Ricciardo is another contender, but he left Renault earlier for rival McLaren. The question is also how competitive the Australian still is? Jack Doohan is another name that has been mentioned, but the F2 championship number four and Alpine junior has not been so convincing in the junior classes that you immediately want to offer him a seat in F1's sub top.

F1 Silly Season not over by a long shot

In the rest of the field, there are still many question marks. Alfa Romeo has not yet signed a new contract for Guanyu Zhou and seems likely to postpone the decision for some time. Theo Pourchaire, a Sauber talent, is a suitable candidate for Alfa Romeo in 2023. The Frenchman himself already let it be known that he does not want to drive another year in F2. Does he already know more and does he just need to officially get his super license? The question is where Alfa Romeo will make up for the loss of the Chinese sponsors. A new contract for Zhou is not excluded.

Another candidate for Alfa Romeo remains Mick Schumacher. The German brings with him the necessary sponsors and was already approached by Frederic Vasseur for a seat at Alfa in 2021. Now that Schumacher seems to have to leave Haas, a switch to the other customer of Ferrari is also an option.

Also at Haas there are many possibilities. Schumacher seems to be leaving and with free practice in Italy and America,Antonio Giovinazzi canprove that he should get that seat. Daniel Ricciardo has also been mentioned at the American Haas, but that is not exactly the competitive seat the Australian will be aiming for.

Red Bull is short of talent

Then there is AlphaTauri. Normally a simple exercise of contract extensions or an up-and-coming talent, but things are a little trickier for 2023. Gasly has a contract for 2023, but Helmut Marko has said that Red Bull will not stand in Gasly's way if Alpine come knocking. Yuki Tsunoda also has no contract yet, but seems certain of his place in the team, especially if Gasly leaves. A lot has been invested in the Japanese driver and that seems to be paying off in better performances.

However, a Red Bull talent to replace Gasly is not on the cards. The five Red Bull-trained talents in F2 are underperforming, with Liam Lawson the best placed in the championship in fifth place. Marko seems more keen on Isack Hadjar. The young Frenchman is leading the F3 championship but a move to F1 may be too soon for him. That's why Colton Herta's name suddenly came up as a possible candidate at AlphaTauri, but he doesn't even have a superlicence. Mick Schumacher has also been linked with a seat at AlphaTauri.

Still De Vries?

The last team on the grid with a seat available for 2023 is Williams. Alexander Albon will be the team's frontrunner in 2023, but who will sit next to him? Nicholas Latifi' s departure is almost certain, but who will replace him is not. Logan Sargeant, as a Williams junior and F2 championship runner-up, looked like the main candidate. As an American he also has an edge with the F1 management. This would finally give Alexander Rossi a successor as the last American F1 driver.

However, it is not certain that Sargeant will make his F1 debut. Joe Saward reports in his blog It is also certain that Nyck de Vries still has a good chance of making his F1 debut. That would mean giving up his Formula E seat with Maserati and WEC deal with Toyota.

So when the Piastri scandal is over there will be plenty to look forward to. The 2023 F1 grid is far from settled and there are still plenty of surprises in the air.