Formula 1: Dark horse emerging as Nicholas Latifi replacement?

Nicholas Latifi’s Williams seat is one of just two seats without a confirmed driver for the 2023 Formula 1 season. Could a dark horse candidate emerge and take it?

Three more moves were recently confirmed for the 2023 Formula 1 season that had long been expected. Despite having Pierre Gasly under contract for next year, AlphaTauri were willing to let him leave for Alpine, provided they could find a viable replacement, and they did just that.

Moments after Alpine officially confirmed Gasly as the replacement for the Aston Martin-bound Fernando Alonso alongside Esteban Ocon, AlphaTauri confirmed Nyck de Vries as Gasly’s replacement alongside Yuki Tsunoda.

Then earlier this week, Haas confirmed that Nico Hulkenberg is set to return to Formula 1 and replace Mick Schumacher alongside Kevin Magnussen.

These moves mean that there are 19 drivers confirmed on the 20-car grid for next season, leaving just Nicholas Latifi’s Williams seat open alongside Alexander Albon.

This seat is guaranteed to see a change, as the team have already confirmed that Latifi will not be returning for a fourth year in 2023.

Williams junior and Formula 2 driver Logan Sargeant is set to take Latifi’s seat, provided he can secure the necessary FIA Super License points with his finish in the Formula 2 standings.

It has long looked like Williams were waiting on Sargeant to make their decision, knowing that they weren’t going to beat out Alpine and/or AlphaTauri to secure any of the other top talent on the market.

De Vries is one example, as he was seen as a potential Williams driver after making his Formula 1 debut with the team in Monza amid Albon’s bout with appendicitis. He finished in ninth place and scored two points. Through the season’s first 16 races, the Grove-based team had managed just four points total.

Two other options were obviously Daniel Ricciardo, who has lost his seat at McLaren to Alpine reserve driver Oscar Piastri, and Schumacher, who is officially out at Haas. The fact that at least one of these two drivers was likely always going to be available is another reason why Williams could afford to wait on Sargeant.

But is there a dark horse candidate whom we could be overlooking?

Way back in early June, the plan was for Alpine to loan out Piastri to Williams to compete alongside Albon for 2023, as the Enstone outfit had been under the impression that Alonso was going to be returning for another year.

So when Alonso announced his move to Aston Martin alongside Lance Stroll as Sebastian Vettel’s replacement, Alpine simply confirmed Piastri as his replacement. But by then, Piastri had already — legally — agreed to a contract with McLaren to replace Ricciardo.

That’s where Alpine Academy and Formula 2 driver Jack Doohan could become part of the mix.

Considering the fact that Alpine were willing to loan Piastri to Williams to begin with and Williams are the only team left with an open seat for 2023, could they be willing to do the same with Doohan if Sargeant ends up being unable to secure his Super License?

Sargeant currently sits in third place in the standings while Doohan sits in a three-way tie for fourth, just nine points behind. Just 12 points blanket the drivers from third to seventh.

So nothing is guaranteed when it comes to Sargeant achieving the finish needed (either fifth or sixth, depending on his FP1 outing during Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend at Yas Marina Circuit) to secure the additional Super License points. The two Formula 2 races at the track this weekend are the final two races on this year’s 28-race schedule.