Formula 1: We know who won’t be at Mercedes in 2022

Regardless of what the decision may be, the other driver mentioned as a potential Mercedes driver for the 2022 Formula 1 season isn’t going to be one.

The key focal point of Formula 1 silly season through the 2021 season has been the second Mercedes seat, which has been occupied by Valtteri Bottas since he replaced 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg after Rosberg’s unexpected retirement following the 2016 season.

Bottas is in his fifth consecutive season driving for the Silver Arrows on a one-year deal, and there has been much speculation that he will be replaced by Mercedes junior driver George Russell, who is in the third and final year of a three-year deal with Williams.

While the question as to who will partner seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton next year at the Brackley-based team has always been between Bottas and Russell, another former world champion had a different idea.

And that idea is obviously not going to be coming to fruition.

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Jacques Villeneuve had suggested that Bottas will be moving to Aston Martin to replace Lance Stroll, with Stroll joining Mercedes instead of Russell so that Hamilton would not be “bothered” like he supposedly would be with Russell joining the team.

He added that Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is close with Lance’s father Lawrence, the Aston Martin team owner, as well as the fact that finding Bottas a landing spot if his Mercedes contract ended up not being renewed was always a priority for Wolff. So it would effectively be a win-win-win situation.

Here is what Villeneuve had to say about the matter to Italian newspaper Libero Quotidiano.

"“For me, [Bottas] could move to Aston Martin, instead of Lance Stroll, who would go to Mercedes. Stroll senior’s dream is to see his son win championships. He’s very close to Toto Wolff, and Toto needs a place for Valtteri. Hamilton certainly doesn’t want to have Russell as a teammate. It’s better to have someone like Bottas, who won’t bother him.”"

It should go without saying, but Stroll isn’t going to Mercedes next year.

While there hasn’t been an official confirmation, things do seem to have fallen in place, with Mercedes having confirmed that the decision has been made and both Russell and Bottas have been informed of that decision.

Naturally, Stroll is set to return to Aston Martin alongside four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel and has no part in that decision.

And at this point, all signs do point to Russell taking Bottas’s place, with Bottas moving to Alfa Romeo to replace the retiring Kimi Raikkonen.