With the 2021 Formula One title race getting all the more heated after events in the USA at COTA, the tussle has only intensified between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, and it is going to be a brave person who predicts the winner of this year’s championship.
However, there will be no shortage of people making such a prediction and for those who want to test their betting acumen with a championship wager, they will be able to make use of the many Fox Bet promo codes that are available.
Then again, who finishes on top at the end of the year is not the only current subplot and it is time to focus on the driver market once again, as with a number of confirmed moves now announced for 2022, there are very few vacancies left for anyone hoping to earn gainful employment.
Of the three berths that are currently available, one of those is at the Alfa Romeo team and with Valtteri Bottas making a rather high-profile switch from Mercedes, the Finn will now wait to see who his new partner will be.
While the other two remaining berths are both at Aston Martin and with neither of their current duo tied down for 2022, there are questions being asked regarding the team’s personnel plans for next year.
Plans that will most likely see Lance Stroll once again race in Aston Martin colours. If only to avoid a rather difficult discussion and one that would take place with his father, if he was not re-signed for 2022.
Because for those who are not in the know, it is Lawrence Stroll who is the owner of the newly named Aston Martin and with this year being the first of a new racing era for the legendary marque, it is the Canadian businessman who has been writing all the cheques.
Cheques that have enabled Sebastian Vettel to also race for the team and it is his plans for 2022 which is the current hot topic in the paddock, as Stroll senior looks to tie down the former World Champion for next year.
Something that is perhaps easier said than done, as although the man who funds Aston Martin has been rather vocal regarding his desire to keep Vettel as one of his staff, the German has not been as forthcoming in terms of reciprocation.
That’s not to say that he will not extend the option that is in his current contract, it’s just that option has not been exercised yet and if there is one thing that may work in Aston Martin’s favour, it is the fact that the four-time champion has so few options.
In fairness, Vettel has one option and that is the other seat at Alfa Romeo. Then again, when you analyse such a move closer, there is surely no scenario in which the former Red Bull star joins the Italian manufacturer.
If only because of two rather pertinent reasons, the first of those being the fact that Alfa Romeo would unlikely have the budget to land both him and Valtteri Bottas and secondly, the Mercedes man has been bought into the Swiss team to be their number one driver.
Which all means, either Alfa Romeo would have to renege on their recent agreement with a new signing or Vettel makes a switch further down the grid, while also having to settle for number two status.
Therefore, when this is taken into consideration, the decision becomes rather more binary and it is one where the man who left Ferrari at the end of 2020 asks himself one simple question, that being stick or twist.
If he were to stick, then it is as simple as rolling on his contract to 2022 and Aston Martin go in with an unchanged roster for next year, meaning the only berth available is that of a young protégé at Alfa Romeo.
At the same time, he could twist and although a new drive in a different discipline is not lined up, there would be absolutely no shortage of suitors for a man who was the last non-Mercedes driver to win the Formula One Driver’s Championship.
One route that many high-profile drivers have gone down post Formula 1, is the World Endurance Championship and with both Porsche and Audi eyeing up returns in the near future, a German linkup is one that seems rather obvious.
Then again, Vettel could take a much easier route into what could be considered semi-retirement and that would come in the guise of the DTM, as the former touring car class has now morphed into its current GT3 guise. Of course, this is just conjecture and although they could be used as bargaining chips in terms of negotiations, the smart money is on the 34-year-old staying in the Formula 1 paddock for at least another year.
