Formula 1: Not-so-early silly season rundown for 2022

Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo, Formula 1 (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)
Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo, Formula 1 (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

There are still seven races remaining on the 2021 Formula 1 schedule, but the grid is all but set for next year. Take a look at what we know and don’t know thus far.

This past Sunday’s Russian Grand Prix at Sochi Autodrom was only the 15th race on the 22-race 2021 Formula 1 schedule, leaving seven more races from now through mid-December until the season is complete.

But 19 seats in next year’s driver lineup have already been solidified following a number of recent confirmations by multiple teams.

This leaves just one seat to be filled at some point before the 2022 season gets underway in what we would guess will be about six months or so.

So here is where things stand for next year with seven races remaining on the 2021 schedule (teams sorted alphabetically).

Alfa Romeo

CHANGE

  • IN: #77 – Valtteri Bottas
  • OUT: #7 – Kimi Raikkonen

UNKNOWN

  • Current driver: #99 – Antonio Giovinazzi
  • Possibilities: Giovinazzi, Guanyu Zhou, Nyck de Vries

AlphaTauri

No changes

  • #10 – Pierre Gasly
  • #22 – Yuki Tsunoda

Alpine

No changes

  • #14 – Fernando Alonso
  • #31 – Esteban Ocon

Aston Martin

No changes

  • #5 – Sebastian Vettel
  • #18 – Lance Stroll

Ferrari

No changes

  • #16 – Charles Leclerc
  • #55 – Carlos Sainz Jr.

Haas

No changes

  • #9 – Nikita Mazepin
  • #47 – Mick Schumacher

McLaren

No changes

  • #3 – Daniel Ricciardo
  • #4 – Lando Norris

Mercedes

  • #44 – Lewis Hamilton

CHANGE

  • IN: #63 – George Russell
  • OUT: #77 – Valtteri Bottas

Red Bull

No changes

  • #11 – Sergio Perez
  • #33 – Max Verstappen

Williams

  • #6 – Nicholas Latifi

CHANGE:

  • IN: #23 – Alexander Albon
  • OUT: #63 – George Russell

The remaining schedule for the 2021 season includes races in the countries of Turkey (Sunday, October 10), United States of America (Sunday, October 24), Mexico (Sunday, November 7), Brazil (Sunday, November 14), Saudi Arabia (Sunday, December 5), and United Arab Emirates (Sunday, December 12), with a race likely to be added in Qatar (Sunday, November 21) as a result of the cancellation of the Australian Grand Prix for the second straight season due to COVID-19-related restrictions.