Silly Season: More announcements at Zandvoort after Raikkonen retirement?

With the announcement of Kimi Raikkonen's retirement on Thursday night, it looks like Zandvoort will be the place to be when it comes to the Silly Season. The expectation is that after Kimi's news, many other pieces of the puzzle will fall into place.

Announcements in Zandvoort

It all depends on the decision of Mercedes. The German team seems set to opt for George Russell and reportedly have already made its decision. It only wanted to wait for the driver that wasn't chosen, because their future team didn't want to announce the line-up until later. With Valtteri Bottas being linked with Kimi's seat at Alfa Romeo, the ball may now start rolling.

The question is what Alfa Romeo's full line-up will look like. If Bottas is brought to Alfa Romeo it remains to be seen who will join him. The most logical option would seem to be to keep Antonio Giovinazzi, but it has been clear this year that he is not sure of his place either. Alexander Albon, Nico Hulkenberg and even Nyck de Vries have been mentioned for this seat.

A chance for De Vries?

In that respect, the seat next to Bottas is still a wildcard. It will also have to do with the choice of Williams. There Alexander Albon seems to be the desired replacement for Russell, who will leave for Mercedes. De Vries was mentioned earlier and put forward by Toto Wolff, but Nicholas Latifi has been praised by Williams in recent weeks. The chance that he will also be put aside is therefore not so great.

So this weekend we can expect an announcement from Alfa Romeo and Williams. Earlier, it was indicated that Monza would be the moment of announcement but with the decision of Raikkonen on Wednesday evening, things have been set in motion. AlphaTauri have also yet to present their line-up as well, but doing so in Italu makes sense.

Could this be the lineup for 2022?

Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton & George Russell

Red Bull Racing: Max Verstappen & Sergio Perez

McLaren: Lando Norris & Daniel Ricciardo

Ferrari: Charles Leclerc & Carlos Sainz

Alpine: Fernando Alonso & Esteban Ocon

Aston Martin: Sebastian Vettel & Lance Stroll

AlphaTauri: Pierre Gasly & Yuki Tsunoda

Alfa Romeo: Valtteri Bottas & Antonio Giovinazzi

Haas: Mick Schumacher & Nikita Mazepin

Williams: Alexander Albon & Nicholas Latifi