Why Alonso's 'mega money' Aston Martin deal has turned F1 driver market upside down

“So from that point of view, I think we are very transparent, him towards us, and us towards him. And so there is no bad feelings.”

Vettel told Stroll of his final decision only last Wednesday, and the deal was thus obviously concluded over the race weekend.

It’s been announced as multi-year, and thus it’s at least one more than Alpine proposed, and I think we can assume that it’s for mega money, and more than he could have expected from the French manufacturer.

Whether or not Aston or Alpine is more competitive over the next two years remains to be seen – but it’s fair to say that Alonso knows that neither are going to win him a third world championship.

He was an obvious choice for Stroll. With due respect to the other candidates, the likes of Hülkenberg, Albon and De Vries were not going to help sell many Aston Martins or bring sponsors charging, other than the odd personal connection.

Schumacher was a bit more interesting on that front, but is he good enough? And how would such a high-profile youngster mix with Lance Stroll?

Alonso brings huge attention to Aston Martin and will be a brilliant ambassador, and like Vettel he can serve as a big brother of sorts to Stroll. Having said that we all know that Fernando Alonso’s priority is Fernando Alonso – that’s how you get to where he is, of course – and it remains to be seen how the relationship with the son of his boss unfolds.

You might think this all plays into the hands of Alpine as they can now slot Piastri in, without the PR damage associated with in effect dropping Fernando and being seen to end his career. In addition Piastri will be massively cheaper.

However, things may not be so clear cut. It’s been evident for a while that Piastri’s manager Mark Webber has been looking further afield.

The initial plan as agreed with Alpine was to slot him into Williams for 2023, and then bring him back to Enstone in 2024.

However multiple sources say that Webber is instead steering Piastri towards McLaren, potentially as a replacement for his old buddy Daniel Ricciardo.

As he has made clear, Ricciardo does have an ongoing contract. Exactly how that arrangement pans out, and if McLaren has to pay him off to walk away, is another question.

So how can Webber take Piastri to McLaren if the youngster has an Alpine contract? That is another big question, and the word is that it’s one that the Alpine management has also asking in recent days.

It sounds like it could get a bit messy in the coming weeks and days while it’s all sorted out. Was there a scenario where Piastri could walk if there was no Alpine seat in 2023, but now all of a sudden there is?

Ironically in the USA McLaren is connected to a tug-of-love legal action regarding Alex Palou, who signed for the team when Chip Ganassi Racing thought that he was theirs into 2023…

One source has suggested that Briatore could be pulling a few strings. The Italian was very much in evidence in the Paul Ricard paddock, going in an out of motorhomes. As noted he is Alonso’s manager and would have been doing the deal with Lawrence Stroll.

But consider too that he has always had a close relationship with Webber, another of his proteges, and one could speculate that he could be somewhere in the background, at the very least aware of what’s going on with Piastri.

All of this has turned the driver market upside down. From being in a difficult three-into-two position it appears that Alpine currently only has one driver in Esteban Ocon, and if Piastri doesn’t fall into place, the team will have to look elsewhere.

Would the management take Ricciardo back after he walked away for the big bucks at McLaren – and then struggled to match Norris? Anything is possible, as we have seen.

Albon’s name has also been mentioned as a potential Alpine favourite, someone who would slot in easily alongside Ocon. However, there are mixed messages about whether Albon is a free agent for 2023, with some saying that Williams can take up an option and stop him going.

With the Piastri deal gone the Grove team will need a driver to replace Nicholas Latifi, who seems to have outstayed his welcome, despite his healthy sponsorship deal. De Vries, who has already run an FP1 session for the team and is associated with PU supplier Mercedes, is high on the list.

The team’s American protégé Logan Sergeant is doing well in F2, but the consensus is that 2023 will be too early.

Another driver potentially on the market is Schumacher. For all his great PR value the word from the camp is that a change is wanted at Haas, and that leaves the German looking for a seat. Vettel wanted him to go to Aston, but that door has closed.

One suggestion I heard today is that Helmut Marko has a soft spot for Mick and that he could end up at AlphaTauri in place of Yuki Tsunoda.

That one sounds a bit far-fetched, but Porsche is coming to the Red Bull group, and he’d be a great name to have in the camp. He could also be a good fit at Williams, if his countryman Jost Capito wants him.

If Schumacher is out, then Haas would have to look for another driver. That seat is ‘owned’ by Ferrari for a Maranello-approved driver. While Robert Shwartzman is running FP1s for the works team this season and appears to be next in line, he doesn’t seem to have done enough to have earned promotion to a race seat. That leaves former Alfa driver Antonio Giovinazzi potentially in line for an unlikely return to the grid.

One thing is for sure – a few team bosses, drivers and driver managers could be having a busier summer break than they anticipated…