Silly season 2022 begins! Attention on Hamilton, Bottas and Russell at Mercedes

With the confirmation that Lewis Hamilton has signed with Mercedes for one year, the exceptionally long silly season for 2021 is now over. And so we can focus on 2022 because that too promises to be a year with some interesting driver changes.

For 2021, most of the early action during the silly season took place at Ferrari, Red Bull Racing and the teams in the midfield. For the season, all attention will be focused on Mercedes. Both Hamilton's and Valtteri Bottas' contracts are due to expire and it currently seems unlikely that these two will remain teammates after this year.

George Russell is without a doubt the first to be considered. He has proven during his substitution that he has the speed for this and his contract with Williams also expires at the end of this season. Moreover, it will be a relatively very cheap replacement for Mercedes.

Will Verstappen replace Hamilton?

When you look at it that way, Russell's arrival seems like a certainty, but who is going to sit next to him? And who is Russell going to replace? Hamilton has signed for only one year and Mercedes strongly insist that they have not vetoed the arrival of Max Verstappen, the door is again wide open for the Dutchman. He may activate his escape clause at Red Bull Racing after 2021.

Should Hamilton become champion again in a dominant way next season, he will be an eight-time World Champion moving into a league of his own. From a Mercedes point of view, is a ninth Hamilton title more valuable than a first world title for either Bottas or Russell? And there's a whole new chapter on the salary cap. 

A lot of questions for Mercedes to answer. They've put themselves in a position where Hamilton, Bottas and Russell's contracts all end at the same time. A clever move as long as they play their cards right.