Why Williams now holds the power in Formula 1 silly season
Amid mounting speculation linking Nyck de Vries and Alex Albon to seats at Williams next year, the team is now in a position of strength in the driver market that it has not occupied for many years. Whichever way the team decides to go will have significant ramifications for teams and drivers elsewhere
After months of intrigue over who will partner Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes next year, we appear to be moving into the next chapter of Formula 1’s silly season.
Mercedes may not have announced anything, but with George Russell saying he knows where he’ll be racing next year, Valtteri Bottas saying he’s eager for a multi-year deal, and Alfa Romeo sorting a replacement for the retiring Kimi Raikkonen, the puzzle pieces are falling into place.
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Luke Smith is Autosport’s Formula 1 reporter. Luke has been working in F1 as a journalist since 2013, initially alongside a History degree at University College London. Luke served as the lead F1 writer at American broadcaster NBC Sports from 2013-17 before spending two years as the F1 Editor for Crash.net. Luke joined Autosport for the 2020 season.
Luke is also a contributor to The New York Times for its F1 special reports, and has previously worked with Al Jazeera and CNBC, as well as hosting FIA press conferences. Outside of F1, Luke is a fan of sports and music, with an ever-growing vinyl collection, and has being bitten by the running bug in recent years. He also runs a surprisingly popular blog reviewing the often-terrible media centre coffee from his F1 travels.
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