A Finnish driver might give up his seat for another Finnish driver at the 2021 Italian GP!

Many teams may finalise and announce their driver lineups at Monza, and we might be in for a few shocks, and some interesting lineups may come about for next year. I’ll go through all 4 of these teams (I’m not including Aston in this list, as we all know who’ll be driving alongside Seb)!

Mercedes

Bottas or Russell at Mercedes? A question that has been going around forever seems to finally have a definitive answer, as it seems more and more likely that Russell will be getting the seat at Merc next year. The Briton has often out-driven his car every opportunity he’s gotten, and his talent is undoubtedly sky-high. The only issue will be the inevitable inter-team battles with Lewis, something which Merc wants to forget after the whole Nico-Lewis saga they had to endure from 2013-16.

Bottas though, is a very safe bet. He isn’t allowed to attack or battle with Lewis, is often made to be the rear gunner for Lewis- he’s basically the Barrichello of the V6 era. This year though, his performances have been sub-par to say the least. Being quite sub-par in the wet races at Imola where he was so slow he was battling a Williams, and at Hungary where he played bowling instead of driving the car. Baku was also a low point, finishing 12th after starting 10th, in a race where he struggled with the car and hence lacked pace.

In my (and almost all of the internet’s) opinion, next year we will see Russell finally getting the promotion he so badly deserves, wherein he will drive for Mercedes alongside Hamilton. We’ve already seen his talents in a Mercedes at Sakhir last year, where he sat in a completely unfamiliar car and immediately smacked Bottas. Let’s just wait for Monza to roll around!

Williams

Russell? Bottas? Albon? Latifi? De Vries? Vandoorne? Kvyat? Aitken? Williams has so many options, it’ll be very interesting to see who they choose as their lineup for next year. I’ll do a quick-fire list for all the drivers in this list. I’m not including Hulkenberg in this list, as in my opinion he won’t risk a stable reserve driver role at Aston for a one-year deal at Williams. Onto the list!

• Russell: Loyal driver at Williams since 2019, though likely to move up to Mercedes next year. (Unlikely)
• Bottas: Good driver, looked down upon because of his comparisons against one of the best to ever take part in the sport, also touted to be moving to Alfa Romeo for next year. (Unlikely)
• Albon: Quick driver who was thrust up the ranks way too early, his talent is often under-appreciated. Doesn’t have anywhere to go for next year as well. (Likely)
• Latifi: Brings money, and shows some glimpses of speed, though is that good enough for Williams, now that their new investors confirmed they don’t need pay drivers? (Doubtful)
• De Vries: Formula E Champion, previously a McLaren junior and now a Mercedes junior, who never got the chance in F1. (Doubtful)
• Vandoorne: Previously a McLaren driver, couldn’t replicate the speed he showed in junior formulae in F1. (Unlikely)
• Kvyat: Speedy but inconsistent Russian, who I feel was treated badly by the Red Bull junior program. Reserve for Alpine, likely to stay a reserve. (Unlikely)
• Aitken: Decent driver, showed some glimpses of his speed at Sakhir last year when he subbed for Russell. Likely to stay as a reserve (Unlikely)

In my opinion, they’ll probably go for a Albon-Latifi combination. The two gel quite well, having been teammates in 2018 in F2 when they drove for DAMS, though I won’t rule out an Albon-De Vries partnership either. Williams have confirmed that they’re just waiting for official confirmation about wether Russell will move up to Merc or not, so once that is done, we can expect many driver announcements to take place.

AlphaTauri

Monza is AlphaTauri’s home race, and they will likely announce their lineup there as well. They have some very happy memories from last year, when Gasly won the race. In my opinion, hence they’ll likely stick with a Tsunoda-Gasly lineup for next year, as they don’t have any junior drivers they can thrust up the ranks too early without thinking as they have done in the past, I mean promote to F1 at the moment. Liam Lawson, Juri Vips and Jehan Daruvala are possible candidates for the seat, though I feel like Red Bull might have learned from their past mistakes, and will actually let their young drivers hone their skills in junior formulae.

Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo à la Williams have quite a few options, and in an article about how Kimi might possibly retire, I discussed the possible candidates for the seat as well. It is, however likely that they might not shuffle up their lineup that much, and here are a few of their options for next year.

• Kimi Raikkonen: The cool and free-spirited Iceman is a very safe bet, though many sources are saying that he will be announcing his retirement from F1 at Monza. (Unlikely)
• Antonio Giovinazzi: The quick but inconsistent Italian has been a part of the Ferrari junior program, and hence has been kept in the seat since 2019. Though likely, he will only be here until Theo Pourchaire is promoted up from F2 to F1. (Likely, but not long term)
• Callum Ilott: The Brit teased an announcement on Twitter, though some sources are saying that it will likely be for an Indy drive sometime this year. It’s likely he’ll be a reserve driver for Alfa for the next few years (Unlikely)
• Valtteri Bottas: The Finn is not likely to stay at Mercedes, and is strongly linked to the Alfa seat for next year. A good bet, in my opinion to sign an experienced and fairly decent driver. (Likely)
• Robert Kubica: One of the biggest “What if…”s of the sport, I don’t think the Pole will get another shot at F1 again, and will remain a reserve driver. (Quite unlikely)
• Mahaveer Raghunathan: For a gag, sure. (For real though, keep him far away from F1!)

We hope that the teams announce their driver lineups as soon as possible, and I honestly can’t wait for the official announcements!