Which of 2022’s four lost F1 drivers will return to the grid in the future?

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The end of the 2022 F1 season last weekend saw six drivers compete in their final races with their teams. But while Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly will remain on the grid for 2023 in different coloured overalls, four drivers will not be racing at all when the teams reconvene in Bahrain for the start of the new season.

Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel is the only member of that quartet leaving Formula 1 of his own choice. The other three – Nicholas Latifi, Daniel Ricciardo and Mick Schumacher – have all expressed a desire to continue racing in Formula 1. However, none of the three have found a team willing to give them one of the limited 20 seats available for the 2023 season.

But just because those names will not be in the sport come the opening round in Bahrain next year does not mean that the book has completely closed on their F1 careers. In the last ten months, not only has Kevin Magnussen been brought back onto the grid after a year thrashing sportscars around the United States, but Nico Hulkenberg has been granted a remarkable return to the grid for 2023 – four years after his last full-time season of racing in 2019.

So of the four names lost from the field this off-season, which – if any – have the best chance of making a return at some point in the future?

Nicholas Latifi

Nicholas Latifi, Williams, Interlagos, 2022
Latifi has decent financial backing
After three seasons with Williams, Nicholas Latifi departs from the team he has raced with since making his grand prix debut in 2020. It’s fair to say his tenure in Formula 1 was unspectacular over that time, with Latifi struggling to take minor points finishes for a team that was rarely off the back of the grid.

In his three seasons, Latifi finished 21st, 17th and 20th in the drivers’ championship, out-scored by team mates George Russell and Alexander Albon by a total of 20 points to nine. Latifi’s achievements on track may not paint him as an obvious candidate for a second chance in Formula 1, but he has the perk of bringing decent financial backing from Canadian sponsor Sofina Foods – whose CEO just so happens to be Latifi’s father.

Daniel Ricciardo

As unfathomable as it may have seemed less than two years ago, Daniel Ricciardo will head into the 2022 off-season with his future in Formula 1 under severe question. Following two seasons of consistent underperformance at McLaren compared to team mate Lando Norris, McLaren cut their losses and bailed on Ricciardo’s three year contract with one full season still remaining.

Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren, Yas Marina, 2022
Ricciardo is an eight-time grand prix winner
Despite having Haas team principal Guenther Steiner admit he had reached out to Ricciardo to gauge his initial interest in possibly racing with them next season, Ricciardo apparently did not return Steiner’s calls. Rather than taking any seat available just to remain on the grid, Ricciardo appears content to sit out a season in 2023 and return to Red Bull to carry out third driver duties while hoping an opportunity opens up for a return to a race seat next year.

But if any team does decide to offer a drive to Ricciardo next season, what driver will they get? Will it be the Ricciardo who ran toe-to-toe against Max Verstappen during their years at Red Bull, won eight grands prix, including lat year’s Italian Grand Prix with McLaren? Or will it be the Ricciardo who just could not find any solution to his lack of pace over the last two seasons, no matter how hard he tried?

Mick Schumacher

As the youngest and least-experienced driver on this list, none of the four have as much time ahead of them to try and reclaim a place on the Formula 1 grid than Mick Schumacher. After claiming the 2020 Formula 2 championship, Schumacher was thrust into Formula 1 with Haas and doomed to the back of the grid for a year as the team put all its development work into their 2022 car.

Mick Schumacher, Haas, Singapore, 2022
Schumacher will only be 24 at the start of next season
By the time the season began, Haas had leapt from the very back of the field into points scoring contention. Except it was Kevin Magnussen who was recording all the top ten finishes for the team as Schumacher struggled to make the most of his car, crashing heavily in Jeddah and Monaco along the way. Although he showed flashes of real potential in the mid season at the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone, they would be the only points he would score, leading to Haas choosing the more experienced Nico Hulkenberg to replace him for 2023.

Schumacher is determined that this is not the last that Formula 1 will see of him. He has plenty of admirers in the paddock, not the least of which being Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. Still technically affiliated with Ferrari, Mattia Binotto said the team would sit down with Schumacher and discuss his options in the off-season to decide what would be best for his future. He also has the benefit of a famous surname that could make him attractive to teams in the future.

Sebastian Vettel

Few Formula 1 drivers ever get the luxury of getting to end their careers on their own terms and at the age of 35, four-time champion Sebastian Vettel called time on his racing career that goes down as one of the most successful ever in Formula 1 history.

Vettel retired at the age of 35
But in F1, retirement regularly does not mean that drivers have race their last grand prix. Felipe Massa retired at the end of 2016, but was brought back to shepherd Williams through 2017 after Nico Rosberg’s retirement led to Mercedes pinching Valtteri Bottas. Fernando Alonso retired at the end of 2018 to chase the Triple Crown and win Le Mans before returning back to F1 on the cusp of turning 40. Jenson Button also made a cameo appearance in Monaco in 2017 to allow Alonso to compete in the Indy 500 after Button had stepped away from the sport at the end of 2016.

Vettel’s openly admitted he does have interests in possibly competing in one-off races in series outside of Formula 1 and his long-time rival and good friend Lewis Hamilton is convinced that Vettel will make a return to the world championship at some point. So could Vettel eventually reach the 300 grands prix milestone in the future after all?

I say

With the greatest respect to Nicholas Latifi, there is perhaps as much chance of Mika Hakkinen ending his sabbatical and returning to the Formula 1 grid than any of the ten teams choosing to give him a second shot in Formula 1.

Sebastian Vettel is also unlikely to return to the grid, no matter what Hamilton may think. Vettel’s comments around his retirement invoke a strong sense of a driver who is mentally checked out of competing at the highest level and with four championship titles and over 50 race wins to his name, it’s likely he does not feel he has anything else to prove. A one-off appearance stepping in for another driver isn’t out of the question, but it’s difficult to see the circumstances arising where that is likely to happen.

The two most likely candidates, therefore, are obviously Mick Schumacher and Daniel Ricciardo. But they are two very different prospects at two very different stages of their career. Schumacher has the benefit of youth and while he underperformed in 2022 compared to his team mate, it’s possible that, with the right team, he could fare better and demonstrate he has the potential to fight in the thick of the action in the midfield or beyond.

Finally, Daniel Ricciardo has enough good will in the paddock to remain on the shortlist for any team considering replacing one of their drivers over the next few years. However, the two big questions over Ricciardo is whether he will be prepared to accept a seat with a team slightly further down the field than he is used to and whether or not he can overcome whatever held him back at McLaren and be that race-winning driver once again. But if Nico Hulkenberg can find a way back on the grid at age 35 without a single podium to his name, surely there’s hope for Ricciardo at age 33.



You say

Which of 2022's lost F1 drivers will return to the grid in the future? (Select up to four)

  • None will return to the grid (11%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (5%)
  • Mick Schumacher (38%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (46%)
  • Nicholas Latifi (1%)

Total Voters: 172

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Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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57 comments on “Which of 2022’s four lost F1 drivers will return to the grid in the future?”

  1. petebaldwin (@)
    27th November 2022, 12:41

    Latifi won’t. Mick might find a way back to one of the smaller teams although I don’t think it’s likely. Ricciardo might get to stand in if Lando or Piastri are ill and I guess the same applies for Seb if a team needs a replacement for one or two races.

    If I was to put money on it, I’d say none of them will ever have a full time drive in F1 again.

    1. If so, would be unfair to schumacher, seeing as he had matched magnussen by mid season, once he got some experience with a decent car, a bit like the vergne situation, another driver who should’ve been promoted instead of kvyat.

      1. He matched Magnussen for like 2 races then went trash. Ferrari Academy were unhappy with him as was HAAS. I think it would be unfair for other young drivers if Mick got another go because of his name.

      2. As @kpcart said Even Ferrari Academy dropped Mick so i think Mick can only return when there is a team like Alpha Tauri as Franz is very good with Young drivers has room for him otherwise i will see him not return.

      3. @esploratore1

        Matching Magnussen is not great feat to be honest. He’s been out of the sport for a season, and he wasn’t blindingly quick before his sabbatical.

        Only if Mick thrashed Kevin did he really deserve a spot on the grid.

    2. @petebaldwin
      Ricciardo couldn’t stand in for either Norris or Piastri for quite a simply & clear-cut reason, which is the team he chose for his reserve driver role.
      If he became a Mercedes reserve (as speculated initially), he could also serve as a shared reserve driver for other Mercedes-powered teams, but since he chose RBR for reserve driver purposes instead, the only other team where he could substitute a regular driver is AT.
      Seb is unlikely unless he already happened to be on location for whatever reason, given teams already have at least one available driver attending.

  2. This poll needed a ‘None Of The Above’ option.

    I picked Latifi, he has something the rest lack – deep, deep pockets and his father owns part of McLaren, so if Lando decides to try his chances with another team or if Piastri comes up a dud, Latifi is an experienced driver with some leverage on the board. If we apply the same logic everyone has used with Ricciardo, that the car didn’t suit him’ or ‘the team dynamics were wrong’ or any other of the multitude of excuses, these can be applied to Latifi, it may have been Williams culture was all wrong particularly for Latifi.

    The same hackneyed argument can be used for Mick.

    1. @jasonJ

      This poll needed a ‘None Of The Above’ option.

      Added.

    2. @jasonj But unlike Ricciardo, Latifi has never shown himself to be any more than a journeyman driver at best, either in his junior career or in F1. Ricciardo had some great seasons in F1, including convincingly beating a 4 time world champion over a season, and comparing more favourably to Ocon than Alonso has as recently as 2020.

      1. @keithedin

        Latifi has never shown himself to be any more than a journeyman driver at best

        Absolutely, but what if the Williams culture is all wrong for Latifi and their car doesn’t now and has never suited his driving style. Latifi could be the best driver in the field, making Verstappen, Hamilton & Stroll look like rank amateurs, it’s just a few off years because his team is developed around George.

        Look I’m a Ricciardo fan, but I’m hindsight looking back through Vettel’s career, he clearly phones in his final year in Red Bull and does the same when leaving Ferrari and now Aston Martin, whoever his teammate was, was going to trounce him, because he was phoning it in and waiting to be freed from his forced obligations, many people know this feeling in a job. Ricciardo was great that year, his best year by far, but no one expected it, no one thought he had potential at that point.

        comparing more favourably to Ocon than Alonso has

        Yes, he did better against Ocon (who was sitting out cold for a year), while Ricciardo stayed sharp and constantly racing. I’ll argue that Ocon made some improvements and was much sharper once Alonso arrived back from years away (we’ve seen the mighty Schumacher return and severely underperform, so even the best of the best suffer from non participation) so performing better than an average Ocon who’s returning isn’t exactly a groundbreaking achievement. All the past potential, race wins, accolades etc, the reality is he was sacked mid contract by the team best able to evaluate his current skills, ability, focus and future potential – that team judged him not capable and went to great lengths to hire a totally green newcomer, while having to pay millions for him not to drive for them. It’s a clear indicator that he isn’t worth the money he was getting. Now, add in he was rejected for Mercedes reserve role, didn’t get picked up by Haas, Alpine were uninterested and Williams decided to go with a guy without a superlicence over a race winner like Ricciardo, all those great past seasons and heavy marketing messages mean nothing to F1 teams. The reality is Ricciardo costs money and his most recent performance demonstrate he isn’t a good return on investment, except to Red Bull who will use him as a billboard, but won’t give him a car. It’s likely Horner is still upset about how he left them, has re-employed him so he can sack him later down the line.

        I’ll let you know, I’m an Australian, I was super excited when Ricciardo replaced Webber, now I’m super excited that Piastri has a shot.

    3. Don’t see how schumacher doesn’t have money, surely not enough to compete with a billionaire father like latifi has but a seat in f1 doesn’t cost a billion.

      1. You need to take account of the cost cap. If your driver is costing you £3m/year in crash damage, he must, at the very least, produce sufficient points to offset the reduced development that is caused by spending on repairs rather than improvements. Its a terrible way to run a team and much easier to hire a less crashy driver.

    4. @jasonj

      Fully acknowledge that you provide some substance to your choice, but I Would nonetheless have Latifi penned at the bottom of the list. Funding of course remains important, though it is a tiny bit less crucial with the budget cap. But more importantly, I see a lot of drivers being a better choice, including the other two more viable options on this list. Add to that a few F2 up and comers, some of the Indy talent, and some solid a – and perhaps underrated – Formula E drivers. And I’d be surprised if none of these could bring a little cash too.

      But if absolutely just down to money and money alone, you may be right.

      1. @cairnsfella I agree, there are far better choices than Latifi, but realistically….. money, money, money.

        I’d personally prefer young up and coming talent, new blood that has passion and enthusiasm, eager and keen to prove themselves, but in reality it’s billionaires children on that want F1 driver on their resume that are coming through.

        For this Poll, from the 4 choices, Ricciardo wants money, more money than anyone wants to pay him. Plus his eye is on media, not driving. Mick has alienated his team somehow, crashed and cost too much for his team to bear, has been dumped from Ferrari, was made to look sluggish and slow in the early season by a guy they sacked, and he will want a paycheck, all without showing any real potential.

    5. @jasonj
      You’ve clearly forgot that sponsor money from drivers is redundant to even the smallest teams these days, & only more clearly to big & semi-big (Mclaren is among these) ones, & was already before budget cap came.
      Therefore, thinking about Latifi in a Mclaren-related context is entirely pointless, as they won’t take him in any case, nor will other teams with his merits thus far.
      Literally, the only way he could race in F1 again is if his father bought a team a la Lawrence Stroll & as this scenario is extremely unlikely to happen, Latifi’s F1 racing days are behind with a 99% certainty.
      To put his nonexistent chance into perspective, reckon I’d have a higher chance of winning lottery than he has of becoming a full-time driver again.
      No team will have him in their future driver option considerations or at best, as a last-resort choice, but more likely, not at all.

      1. I thought I typed ‘I reckon’

  3. Ricciardo I feel like moves into the zone Hulkenberg has just ascended from, drivers who still have the urge to drive in F1 and will be a safe pair of hands for anyone who needs a last minute replacement.

    I voted for Schumacher too, but while I was writing my reasoning I found it difficult to justify. On his day he was good but not spectacular, but there were a few races he really struggled, which will definitely stop any big teams taking a punt on him. Not to mention qualifying last while his teammate scored pole will stick in the memory. If he wants to get back into F1 I think he’ll need to bring significant financial backing, unless he can do a Gasly and blitz another championship to restore confidence.

    1. It’s not on him qualifying last vs first, it’s depending on timing, the tyre choice etc., it’s a bit like leclerc qualifying 10th, why? He was given intermediates when it was ABOUT to rain!

      1. @esploratore1
        They were out at roughly the same time on the same tyres though, he just had no pace. Of course it’s not the same as if it happened in a normal dry qualifying, but just the fact that it happened is remarkable.

  4. However, neither of the three…”

    I’m sure you meant to put “However, none of the three…” so a small edit might be useful.

    1. Which of 2022’s four lost F1 drivers will return to the grid in the future?

      SteveP

      Does neither the tautology nor the notion that four F1 drivers are lost cause you concern?

      I hope they are found safe and well soon.

  5. I went for Daniel and Mick too, but really, could just as likely be neither of them.

    Mick could go to any mid-table team that wants a sponsorship boost. The name is worth a lot. Perhaps something could be done with Sauber.

    Rumours are Red Bull are looking to get rid of Perez. I wonder if Dan would go back to Red Bull as a clear #2 if there’s the potential to pick up race wins every now and then. He and the team, including Verstappen had a genuinely good relationship. He would be an obvious choice, can’t see much reason for him to return there as reserve rather than Mercedes if it wasn’t a chance at all.

    1. So perez is the victim at interlagos and yet he’s the one who has to worry about losing a seat? That’s kinda a 180 degree turn from back then, when people were saying “perez can now refuse to let verstappen by” or something like that, without considering the risk perez would take with it.

      1. Perez is the victim of his lack of pace.

    2. @skipgamer

      Rumours are Red Bull are looking to get rid of Perez

      I keep seeing similar references, but really nothing more convincing than fake moon landing stories.

      Of course I realise this doesn’t mean it is untrue, but has anyone seen/heard/read anything on this matter that gives it a little substance?

  6. I think Ricciardo is well placed to replace Perez at Red Bull in 2024 if Checo continues to be unsettled with his clear number two role at Red Bull.

    As for Mick. As mentioned in the piece, his surname carries a lot of weight and will probably get him a reserve role at Mercedes. That’ll put him in line for almost a dozen seats on the grid if anyone misses a race because of illness or injury. And if Mick uses his time in that role wisely, theres every chance he can grow as a driver and make a return later on down the line if he chooses to. Whether he has the drive and determination to do that though remains to be seen, when he says that 2022 was him giving his best effort, it makes me sceptical about this.

    1. IMO 2022 showed he’s at magnussen level and magnussen is at the grid, the difference was experience.

    2. on the grid, sorry, was sure I wrote “on”

  7. Ricciardo needs to accept a huge salary cut if he is to return. There are (and will be) so much cheaper options than him with similar risk and more potential.

    1. I agree. You are only worth what someone is prepared to pay you. I’m sort of surprised Daniel has gotten a reserve seat at Red Bull, but then I’m not. I can’t imagine Red Bull paying him as much as Haas would have, unless of course he does actually get to replace one of Red Bull’s or AlphaTauri’s drivers. It could help calm things behind the garage door at Red Bull by having him there, but I just don’t see him getting much seat time or being well paid unless “other things” happen.
      Haas have put their money on Nico and Kevin to get them more points than Williams and AlphaTauri, and hopefully they will finish next season better than 7th in the World Constructors’ Championship. Both of them are hungry and want to prove the trust Haas has put in them.
      I really hope Daniel keeps up with his fitness regime and puts in lots of time on the simulator. If an opportunity does come to drive he will have to produce one of his best drives to prove he still has that magic.

  8. Ricciardo will return at Red Bull. The others are over and done with.

    1. He will return but not with RBR

  9. This off-season would be the perfect time for Seb to ask the Doctor and Christian for a day in the sim in Milton Keynes if he wants to know where he really stands and if there’s any point in even entertaining any future opportunities.

    Daniel and Mick will quickly find out where they rank compared to the race drivers they’ll (likely in the case of Mick) be supporting in 2023.

    And I wish Nicky all the best in his new life outside of racing.

  10. Mick Schumacher, that famous surname comes with considerable backing and Ferrari will surely try to figure something out for him. Maybe 1/3 year racing in other series while being contracted as a 3rd/testing driver for a team is the option.

    1. I would have picked Daniel Ricciardo although I suspect he is suffering from Long COVID, I hope he is not, but that’s what I think. Mick Schumacher does not show any kind of consistency and wrecks a lot of equipment which he would have to overcome before he would be offered a drive in F1, in which case, he would be considered very lucky. Seb has checked out and should do less stressful endeavors. Latifi does not belong in professional motor sports and might do better in club racing, maybe.

  11. I hope we see Ricciardo again. If Perez drops has an awful year in 2023 maybe, just maybe Horner will give into nostalgia and let Danny back in a race seat. They should have some idea based on his testing times if he has the pace or not.

  12. Hakkinen’s sabbatical reference was a stray bullet shot to Latifi.
    Voted Schumacher for whichever reason. Had a good read though.

  13. Went with the obvious choice: Schumacher and Ricciardo. Schumacher will do a few years as a third driver somewhere and then will be picked up, while Ricciardo emulates Hulkenberg and returns for a two-year contract with a midfield team.

  14. Ricciardo is the only one I’d give a greater than 50% chance to. He’s gone to Red Bull to be a menacing shadow lurking behind Perez, and I have a feeling he’ll be back in a race seat at some point.

    Vettel is a 0%, he’s gone and seems entirely happy and content with that. Latifi just isn’t good enough, and I don’t think any team is desperate enough now to risk swapping his money for another driver’s decent performance… unless his dad’s going to buy him a whole team, his future surely lies elsewhere.

    Schumacher didn’t prove that he deserved one of the 20 seats. While normally that would mean no chance of a return (usually does when F2-promotees don’t make the grade), he has the name so he might get more chances than most… but then, where? He won’t be back in a Ferrari-powered seat and even if he ends up with Mercedes backing, none of their customers look like they need to take a Merc-placed driver. He could return, but I’m struggling to find a feasible route he could take, so I’ll go with a ‘probably not’.

    1. Do you think schumacher will get ranked 20th this season on this site’s ranking? Cause I doubt, and if he isn’t the worst of the 20, then he probably deserves a seat, otherwise more drivers would have to be dropped.

      1. No, Latifi will be 20th. I’d expect Schumacher to be around 16th-19th, or thereabouts – in the same bracket at Ricciardo, Zhou, Stroll, Tsunoda.

        Given the huge number of potential replacements kicking around, I (and Ferrari & Haas seem to agree) consider ‘deserving a seat’ to be more than not being the worst on the grid. If a newcomer manages two full seasons without showing even a hint of anything special, there’s no point keeping them around, costing their team points and blocking a seat that could go to someone else.

      2. No, but only because I think Latifi will be 20th. I don’t think Mick will be ranked higher than any of the drivers who still have a seat next year.

      3. @esploratore1

        Do you think schumacher will get ranked 20th this season on this site’s ranking? Cause I doubt, and if he isn’t the worst of the 20, then he probably deserves a seat, otherwise more drivers would have to be dropped.

        That’s what I would call an oversimplification.

        If he were rated 19th and ahead of Latifi, this already negates your theory. Then he may rate ahead of a driver that has not had the same time in F1 as Mick has had. And then there may be a few that fall into a ‘grey’ area which would invariably mean the ‘debatability’ of which of those drivers should be axed. Not to mention your assertion that drivers would “have to be dropped” which is somewhat different to whether they “should be dropped”.

  15. Well Ricciardo decided he wanted some time off in 2023. 23 (or is it 24) races is a lot and sometimes a break can be just the thing to get you back on track. It gives him time to think if he wants to do that or not.

    A bit of an out there option: if Alpha Tauri show their car improves but Tsunoda doesn’t… Ricciardo could end up there as well.

    1. If Yuki is dropped, he’ll in all likelihood be replaced by Ayumu Iwasa.

      1. Agree. Wouldn’t surprise me one bit.@proesterchen

  16. I voted for Ricciardo and Mick. I think Ricciardo can recapture his old magic if he refocuses on F1. And then many teams on the grid would sign him. For Mick, I can see Sauber/Audi signing him for when they take over in 2026.

    1. Totally onside @g-funk. Bit of time off for Dan and the hunger returns could be back to near his best. Only caveat there is that he lost confidence in McLaren and not himself. Harder but not impossible to regain.

      I see Mick around F1 too. Can’t put my finger on why but would probably come out and (unintentionally) disrespectful if I tried. Leave it at age on his side and time to develop.

  17. Riccardo would be my only vote. If he replaces Perez, if Red Bull still have the best car and it suits his driving style then theoretically he could pull a Rosberg. Completely fair fight I could not see him win but imagine if Verstappen had two retirements extra.

  18. None, probably. Latifi effectively bought his seat, and no other team needs the money. Vettel seem uninterested. Ricciardo is eight years past his peak, and there’s no shortage of people who teams will feel like can do at least as good a job. Schumacher hasn’t proven to be anything special, and worse for him, has built up a bit of a reputation for costing the team a lot of money.

    1. So is Hulkenberg past his peak, so nothing is over for Ricciardo & even less so for Mick time-wise.

      1. @jerejj Hülkenberg has a superlicense, which is a huge pro on his CV, and is known for doing okay – which is what Haas apparently wants. No shenanigans, just by the book, stable drives.

        I don’t see why any team would care to hire Ricciardo or Schumacher again, but F1 teams obviously have to balance a bunch of factors that might favour one of them. Their chances also benefit from the F2 championship going through a bit of a lull in terms of promising new talent.

  19. I would hope and expect for both Ricciardo and Schumacher to be back one day.

    I just can’t believe that Ricciardo would turn bad over night. His McLaren stint obviously proved a big weekness of a lack of adaptability not seen in him before, but he wiped the floor with both Hulkenberg and Ocon at Renault, he clearly still had it in 2020. If he’d be willing to race for a lower midfield team, there’s no doubt that he should be able to land a seat in 2024. But surely he hopes for better, maybe to replace Perez?

    Audi stated that they want a German driver in one of their cars when they take over Sauber, and given the lack of German talent in the junior categories, the only one likely to be around and young enough to have a future beyond 2026 is Schumacher. And the name would surely be a big plus for a German manufacturer. So Schumacher to Sauber for 2024 would be my bet, unless it was all talk. After all, can we really be sure that Audi actually will be on the grid in 2026? After all, they called of their WEC project after announcing it.

  20. Vettel is not entirely unlikely given he doesn’t know himself what he would feel like. A return is somewhat likely if a top team asks him to or a team like Audi. He’s already racing in the ROC.

    He’s just not interested in driving for a few points like Alonso in 2018.

  21. Sanshiwchhands
    28th November 2022, 1:07

    Ric looks like the most promising, he’s still in the paddock which helps with the out of sight our of mind issue, and he has convinced the winning team to take him under his wing, which at least gives the perception of value. If he does refocus and get his head together then good chance of getting a seat somewhere. Speculating here but given his popularity and the increase in the US market, maybe his value in a seat is beyond his drive. Personally would prefer he go to Indy. Also I’m Australian so biased.

    Schumacher name carrys good will and probably advertising money. Difficult to rule him out, and I would be interested to know how aggressive his managers are with keeping him in f1.

    Retirement sounds awesome when you start it, let’s see if that holds true in the long term for Vet.

    Sorry who is this Latifi guy?/

  22. Like many others here, I agree that the best options are Daniel and Mick.

    It could be that Daniel’s hopes mainly rest with Red Bull as at the moment. It seems that he is unlikely to want to return to anyone less competitive than a midfield team. But what options does this give him? Outside of RBR, McLaren, Alpine or possibly Aston Martin as they improve. None of these seem particularly likely.

    I think that Mick is young enough and decent enough to possibly make a comeback with another team in a year or two. His name and nationality alone may get him a second chance.

  23. Danny & Mick.
    Long story short, reiterating my previous post on the matter:
    VET: F1 racing time over for good.
    LAT: For good in all likelihood unless his father bought a team a la Lawrence Stroll.
    RIC & MSC: For now, at least.

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