This week Williams announced the signing of Carlos Sainz. The agreement with the Spanish driver is for a minimum of two seasons with the possibility of extension, which means that Carlos will not be an active participant in the driver market for the foreseeable future.
The Spanish driver has been offered a contract by Sauber/Audi and Alpine, but now those teams will have to resort to a fallback option when selecting a driver for next season.
According to the championship’s official website, both Sauber/Audi and Alpine are considering the candidacy of Valtteri Bottas. Valtteri himself previously stated that he would like to continue his career in Hinwil, so extending his contract with him seems a logical option. However, if it is not possible to reach an agreement with the Finn, the team is ready to consider the candidacies of Kevin Magnussen and Guanyu Zhou.
As for Alpine, after receiving a refusal from Sainz, the team made an offer to Valtteri Bottas, as the most experienced and fastest driver among those not yet under contract for next season. As an alternative, Alpine is considering reserve driver Jack Duane.
It is believed that the option to sign a contract with Mick Schumacher is no longer on the table. However, things could still change at Alpine after Oliver Oakes was appointed as the new team manager.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
