Fernando Alonso’s announced move to Aston Martin has sent the Formula One rumour mill bubbling with a bang. And if former F1 racer Marcus Ericsson is to be believed, many more spectacular changes will be announced in the coming days. Even Mick Schumacher would soon have a new employer says the Swede with his predictions on social media in a rather ‘tongue in check’ manner.
According to 97-time Formula 1 starter Marcus Ericsson, who has been driving in the US IndyCar Series since 2019, Fernando Alonso has merely kicked things off with his “middle finger to Alpine”.
On Twitter, the Swede tipped how the driver field in Formula 1 will be put together from next season. These will include: Mick Schumacher leaving Haas after two years to join AlphaTauri. He would then race there with Yuki Tsunoda.
After Alonso’s “middle finger to Alpine switch” this is how the rest of @F1 silly season will play out:
Alpine Ocon-Gasly
AlphaT Schumacher-Tsunoda
Mclaren Norris-Piastri
AlfaR Bottas-Zhou
Haas Mag-Ricciardo
Williams Albon-De VriesIt’s called Silly season for a reason 😜
— Marcus Ericsson (@Ericsson_Marcus) August 1, 2022
Ericsson said that this change would be possible because Frenchman Pierre Gasly is going to Alpine to take Fernando Alonso’s place. There he would team up with fellow countryman Esteban Ocon. Schumacher’s place in the Haas cockpit would in turn go to Daniel Ricciardo, who would make way for Oscar Piastri in the McLaren.
Ericsson had sent his tweet before the farce at Alpine about the replacement of Fernando Alonso’s cockpit, so rather a prophetic posting it must be said. Alpine had announced its young driver Piastri as the Spaniard’s successor in a press release. A little later, however, the Australian denied a contractual agreement via Twitter. Piastri made it clear that he had no plans to drive for Alpine in 2023. Quite a few observers, including Marcus Ericsson, suspect that he is rather eyeing the seat next to Lando Norris at McLaren.
Meanwhile, Marcus Ericsson sees Nyck de Vries sitting in the currently vacant seat at Williams. He would replace Nicholas Latifi, whose contract only runs until the end of the season and who would therefore remain without a job in Formula 1 next season.
Why would they want Schumacher. He’s had 2 good races in a year and a half. If his name wasn’t Schumacher he’d be out at the end of the year.