Paul Jeffrey
Premium
Following the shock announcement that Nico Rosberg has decided to hang up his Formula One helmet with immediate effect, the question on everybody's lips is who will replace the current World Champion at the all dominant AMG Mercedes team?
With the 2016 Grand Prix season now at an end, Rosberg has left the decision to walk away from Formula One to the very last possible moment (potentially the reason the FIA have failed to produce their official entry list on the scheduled 30th November deadline). With many top drivers already contractually tied in to the respective teams for 2017, Mercedes are left with a difficult decision to face before the 2017 driver market truly settles down ahead of the biggest rule change in several years.
"For the team, this is an unexpected situation but also an exciting one" Said Mercedes Toto Wolf. "We are going into a new era of technical regulations and there is a free Mercedes cockpit for the seasons ahead. We will take the necessary time to evaluate our options and then find the right path for our future."
With current active drivers Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez, Pascal Wehrlein and Esteban Ocon all running under Mercedes steam the Rosberg announcement could perhaps present an opportunity to move further up the grid and drive for the Silver Arrows next year. Williams driver Bottas is under contract at present, and the team will be reluctant to let the highly regarded Finish star leave the Grove squad, especially after reportedly rebuffing attempts by the Renault team to sign him up towards the end of the current season. Despite the obvious desire for Williams to retain the experience of Bottas, a deal could possibly be stuck if Mercedes offer additional support and financial incentives to the once great British team. Obvious replacements for Bottas at Williams could be their young Third Driver Alex Lynn, or Mercedes junior Wehrlein. Wehrlein is apparently out of favour at the Silver Arrows having been overlooked for the second Force India seat in favour of Ocon, who himself has been placed at the Silverstone based team as Mercedes consider the talented youngster still too inexperienced to be considered for a full time drive in a race winning operation.
Considering the lack of talented, experienced driver opportunities so late in the year, other possible options could be either of the recently retired Jenson Button or Filipe Massa. Button is technically under contract to McLaren for a further two years and does appear to have lost his motivation for racing in Formula One, however a seat in the top team for the past few years could do wonders for a driver whose motivation a steadily dwindled after several seasons toiling at the back of the grid. Both Button and Massa still retain their speed, and the extra experience either driver could bring to Brackley could prove valuable in light of the regulations overhaul next year.
Mercedes will no doubt be keen to place a driver capable of either delivering right away or with enough potential to be a likely race winner by seasons end, and quite simply not many current free agents will have the desired CV to drive alongside a driver of Lewis Hamilton's ability, for a team now accustomed to running right at the very sharp end of the Formula One field.
It will be interesting to see where Mercedes go from here. Will the top team in Grand Prix racing look to make an expensive move for a current star such as Fernando Alonso or Daniel Riccardo? Will they promote from within and sign up a youngster with a Mercedes association such as Ocon or Bottas? Or will the team opt for someone completely different and surprise us all once again? One thing is for sure, the next few weeks in Stuttgart and Brackley will be very interesting indeed...
Who do you think Mercedes will sign up for next season alongside Hamilton? Who would you like Merc to sign? Let the speculation begin...
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