Hamilton, Bottas and Ricciardo: Time to make way for juniors!
Column
- Ludo van Denderen
Didn't Oliver Bearman open the eyes of all team bosses after his strong debut at Ferrari? Didn't Oscar Piastri do the same last season? And wouldn't Formula 1 teams realise that with Theo Pourchaire, Felipe Drugovich and certainly Andrea Kimi Antonelli, fresh juniors deserve a chance in the top class of motorsport? Especially when some seasoned drivers are increasingly proving to be on their way out?
It was in 2020. Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas held the reins of Formula 1 with Mercedes. They won 13 out of the 17 Grands Prix. This was only four years ago, but it feels like an eternity ago. Two drivers who performed great then - thanks partly to their powerful cars, but that is always the case in Formula 1 - are now mainly midfield fillers.
Hamilton can not have fun at the moment
For Hamilton - seven-time world champion - surely it must be a terrible admission that he started the season with 7th (Bahrain) and 9th (Saudi Arabia)? In Jeddah, the Brit even finished behind Oliver Bearman, an 18-year-old making his debut in Formula 1. Or take Bottas; never a top talent but a solid driver who picked up 10 wins in Formula 1. So far this season, the Finn has not finished beyond a 19th and a 17th place. How sad is that?
Anyone who sees Hamilton, Bottas, and certainly Daniel Ricciardo struggling at the moment wonders why they are still in Formula 1 at all. There is nothing to suggest that the seasoned drivers enjoy what they do, and they no longer have the speed anyway. Meanwhile, plenty of young talents are waiting in the wings, eager to show what they are capable of. Only they don't get the chance because F1 teams prefer to stick with household names.
Why don't F1 teams give youngsters a chance?
Why anyway? First of all, teams are afraid of introducing newcomers to the sport. After all, it is always a question of how a Pourchaire or Bearman develops, especially how fast? Especially in a sport where the financial stakes are so high, an F1 team cannot afford a misfire or a prolonged learning period from a driver. By correctly choosing someone like Bottas, in this case, Sauber (Stake F1 team) know exactly what they have to gain from the driver.
In this case, that's mediocrity, someone who takes the occasional point. That still proves better than the uncertainty of whether someone doesn't succumb to the pressures of Formula 1, even if it means keeping a junior like Pourchaire on the sidelines. Moreover, people like Hamilton and Ricciardo are worth their weight in gold commercially: familiar faces and drivers who are ideal posters for sponsors. Hamilton sells shirts. Felipe Drugovich does not.
Time to say 'goodbye'
Ferrari have contracted Hamilton for the 2025 and 2026 seasons, while Ricciardo is hoping for a seat at Red Bull Racing. Bottas says he would like to take up the adventure at Audi once they have fully taken over Sauber in 2026. It really is a shame: as in any sport, there is a time to say goodbye. The results of the first few weeks prove that this moment has now arrived for these three drivers.