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LONDON – Lewis Hamilton has been mysteriously silent since the last race of the 2021 season when his chance of winning a record-breaking eighth Formula 1 world championship controversially slipped away on the final lap. As rumours of his retirement grow stronger, one name in particular has been shockingly touted as a potential Mercedes driver alongside George Russell.
Aside from his Sky Sports interview on Sunday, December 12 at Yas Marina Circuit right after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix concluded, when he finished second-best to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, Hamilton has not addressed the public.
As a matter of fact, his last social media posts are pictures he shared after the qualifying session one day before the final race.
There is understandably mounting uncertainty regarding Hamilton’s future in Mercedes and in Formula 1. Rumours have circulated that Hamilton will retire from the sport after the Abu Dhabi controversy despite having already signed a two-year contract extension for the Silver Arrows.
Reports have been contradictory with some parties claiming Hamilton is going nowhere, while other sources indicate that the British driver is leaving for good, which means Mercedes needs to find a new second driver for the upcoming season.
In a nutshell, until Hamilton’s silence is broken, the situation will continue to be shrouded with uncertainty.
If the retirement allegation is true, who would step up to replace him?
Former Williams driver George Russell has already been poached to replace Valtteri Bottas, who is heading to Alfa Romeo for the 2022 season.
A new name, however, is surprisingly named as Hamilton’s potential replacement if he does retire: Pierre Gasly.
Gasly has impressed in 2018 with Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri) and was signed as Verstappen’s teammate by Red Bull in 2019. However, due to a string of unconvincing performances, he was sent back to Toro Rosso halfway through the 2019 season.
His demotion to Toro Rosso proved to be a blessing in disguise. He managed to win his first podium finish in the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos and even won the 2020 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
In the 2021 season, he secured another podium finish in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku and ultimately finished ninth in the driver standings, a personal career record, with an average starting position of 7.3 and an average finishing position of 9.4.
His achievement is more notable when one considers that all the eight drivers ahead of him in the driver standings belonged to the top four teams in the constructor standings. AlphaTauri finished in sixth.
Gasly has been aiming for a spot in a top constructor team for 2023, presumably Red Bull, which he failed to impress in 2019. Yet, if Mercedes comes knocking for 2022 (or even for 2023 given Hamilton plans to race for another year), would Gasly be able to refuse the offer?
Clearly, there are several other candidates who perhaps appear as more sensible options than the Frenchman. Yet, the rumoured “discussions” taking place at this moment shouldn’t be ignored. After all, this is a golden opportunity for the Silver Arrows to inflict first blood on their rivals, which makes the drama a bit more exciting. – Agencies, January 17, 2022