“Far too early” for Alfa Romeo to think about 2022 F1 driver line-up - Vasseur

F1 veteran Kimi Raikkonen’s future remains uncertain and the Finn will turn 42 before the end of the season when his current deal at Alfa Romeo runs out. Vasseur previously said that Alfa Romeo is not planning to talk to the 2007 world champion about his future until later in the year.

Antonio Giovinazzi currently holds the seat selected by Ferrari but his deal is also due to expire at the end of 2021. The 27-year-old Italian has impressed in his third full F1 season and has regularly outperformed his experienced teammate so far this year.

Current Haas driver Mick Schumacher, test driver Callum Ilott and Formula 2 frontrunner Robert Shwartzman are all members of Ferrari’s academy roster and either one of them could be promoted to Alfa Romeo next year.

Aston Martin reserve Nico Hulkenberg is keen on securing a full-time return to F1, while Valtteri Bottas could join him in being a free agent if Mercedes decides to replace him with George Russell for 2022.

With a number of options open to Alfa Romeo, Vasseur stressed it is “far too early” to think about its line-up for 2022 and confirmed the team will wait to see how things play out in the driver market before making any decisions. 

“I had the same question last week and it [the decision] has absolutely nothing to do with Alfa Romeo, the driver choice is the responsibility of the team,” Vasseur said.

“We have to take time to discuss and think about this, but we are not in a rush. I want to see what happens in F1 and in the junior series also, and I will take the decision on the second part of the season - not before.”

Ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Alfa Romeo announced it had extended its partnership with Sauber Motorsport as part of a “multi-year” deal.

Vasseur believes Alfa Romeo is well-placed for F1’s looming regulation overhaul and has confidence his side can become a “surprise package” in 2022 and beyond.

“Already this year, with the introduction of the budget cap, we took the first step towards the 'new' Formula 1 we will see next year,” he added.

“As always, when there is a big regulation change, there is an opportunity to make a big step forward: to do so in a regime of budget cap is a further chance for us.

“We are a very efficient team in the way we use resources, we have been operating just below the cap for years, so we won’t need to go through painful adjustments like some of our rivals. We feel we can be one of the surprise packages of the next era.”