Have seen a lot of banter around in discussion threads here and over at reddit and basically everywhere, but as we all know there are some drivers which will surely not join Merc in 2017.
So now Mercedes has basically two options to deal with this.
Option 1: hire a young gun to throw him in at a top seat and sit it out how things develop. Hamilton will be unstoppable in the team's classification in 2017 then.
Option 2: buy an experienced driver out of an existing contract and keep their juniors in line for 2018.
- Vettel: he's bounded to the biggest or 2nd biggest rival of Mercedes, his idol is Michael Schumacher and by that and the nature of the team he will surely not switch if not being pushed into.
- Ricciardo & Verstappen: both are confident to beat their team mates, both are confident in the 2017 car. Also, Red Bull wouldn't let them go anyways.
- Sainz jr.: I dunno where this comes from but some fans, but this is just wishful thinking. Red Bull, aswell as Merc themselves, have bounded their past junior drivers so close to their junor program that they'll either have a go at RBR or drop out of F1 at all.
- Alonso: yeah, there are tons of Alonso fans out there which want to see their idol in a competing car. But does anybody seriously believe that he wants to deal with Hamilton again? Come on. He'll get a (major) salary raise by McLaren just in time and stuff's done. Also, McLaren needs an experienced driver and Button surely won't jump in again to cruise around in the mid-field with Vandoorne eventually beating him.
- Bottas: Williams junior, might even end his carrer there. Although he's managed by Wolff, I don't see a Merc seat on his way.
So now Mercedes has basically two options to deal with this.
Option 1: hire a young gun to throw him in at a top seat and sit it out how things develop. Hamilton will be unstoppable in the team's classification in 2017 then.
Option 2: buy an experienced driver out of an existing contract and keep their juniors in line for 2018.
- Wehrlein: Is German, young, talented and definetly Merc's best shot for option 2.
- Ocon: Force India will surely let him go for some reduced costs of the Merc engine or further engine support. However, I feel like Williams just bought themselves the #1 status as customers with the Stoll dollars. Also, if Ocon leaves FI, Merc would have to place Wehrlein into that cockpit and this wouldn't end too well.
- Massa: Bring him in for 2017, give him a one-year contract and a following contract for DTM. Would make sense for both, but is Merc really willing to get any elder for one year? And would Massa agree on that after his retirement and Alonso experience?
- Giovinazzi: Might not be able to jump straight into Mercedes, but could be a serious option for a 2nd-half-of-the-year-drive. Also, GP2 is not too far off from F1 and I'm sure Wolff knows that. Would also be a good marketing deal when the next feeder series superstar would finally enter their team (after Verstappen deciding against them).
- Perez: he's good, but is he good enough for a factory drive? Merc could play the risky game here and hire him for one season. If he's better then expected, they'll surely keep him. If not, Carlos Slim would keep his F1 chances alive and nobody's harmed.
