All this talk of reserve driver replacements has got us thinking, what if teams only used reserve drivers?
The Field (just for your referencing):
1. Mercedes - George Russell and Stoffel Vandoorne
2. Red Bull - Sergio Sette Camara and Sebastian Buemi
3. Ferrari - Antonio Giovinazzi and Pascal Wehrlein
4. McLaren - Paul di Resta and Jenson Button
5. Renault - Guanyu Zhou and Sergey Sirotkin
6. Racing Point - Nico Hulkenburg and Artem Markelov
7. AlphaTauri - Yuki Tsunoda and Brendon Hartley
8. Alpha Romeo - Robert Kubica and Marcus Ericsson
9. Haas - Pietro Fittipaldi and Louis Deletraz
10. Williams - Jack Aitken and Dan Ticktum
How we came to our conclusions:
Wow, there are some tough pairings to separate here. Unlike the current F1 grid, reserve drivers are picked largely off talent and experience. This means some real familiar faces show back up on in the paddock. For others like Stoffel Vandoorne, we assessed their short F1 careers to see how they would fair in total. It's fair to say this group would produce some exciting racing.
The Championship:
Stoffel and George would make for viewing of the ages. Watchers of the Sakhir Grand Prix will likely wonder why Stoffel manages to take this crown, and that comes down to experience. Hear me out, while George is undoubtedly fast, one race of rapid pace is not enough. If it were, Alonso would be a 4-time world champion. Championships take mettle, they take concentration, and they take luck. George crashing under safety car this same year shows he's got some kinks he'll need to work out.
The 2nd Tier:
Even in a world where reserve drivers reign supreme, the ultimate result stays the same. Mercedes remain Mercedes, and as such the grid stays largely stagnant. However, the re-introduction of Sebastian Buemi is an exciting one for Formula One. While Formula E hasn't always featured top talent, Buemi, Vergne and Di Grassi have shown the sport's got a lot to offer. As a driver who seemingly never got their footing in F1, seeing Buemi return in a Red Bull car would wield some truly awesome results.
Sette Camara on the other hand, would suffer deeply from Red Bull's two car syndrome. If Alex and Pierre struggle to put that car on the 2nd row, we can't help but imagine it'd be difficult for someone with no prior F1 experience.
Upper Midfield:
The exciting names continue. Both friendly faces of Button and Hulkenburg return, and with great success. A world champion driving for a midfield team is nothing out of the ordinary in 2020 (cough, cough, Sebastian Vettel), but we think Button's got more motivation to succeed. Placing him squarely where Carlos looks to finish this season shows that car has potential no matter who's behind the wheel.
As for Hulkenburg, his P3 qualifying off of the back of a weekend of being on the couch has shown the world the potential he truly wields.
Lower Midfield:
Giovinazzi enters as the only current F1 driver on the field. As the only team without two active test/reserve drivers, Ferrari have recently turned to Alfa Romeo man Antonio Giovinazzi when their car needed testing. As a result, he makes it high, but not too high on this list. A generous 13th matches him alongside Sebastian Vettel's real-world championship placement. This, in itself is generous, but with the advancements Ferrari have seemingly made this season, things should be alright for the Tifosi in the end.
Meanwhile, spare a thought towards the grouping of Ericsson, Sirotkin, and Hartley. The three driver with the most yet left to prove. Their battle would be legendary, and we'd actually put our money on Sirotkin (provided we had to). As Formula 1 has always shown, the strength of the car trumps all. Meanwhile though, the battle between these three would be a joy to watch..
The Back:
Even in the imaginary their plight doesn't get any better. For Williams Racing, the promising duo of both Jack Aitken and Dan Ticktum looks set to be their best all-around driver lineup in years. Despite that, their fortunes barely shift. Unlike now they won't have the world-class talents of George, but one could only hope on their behalf they'd find a point or two to take with them down the line.
The Championship:
1. Stoffel Vandoorne
2. George Russell
3. Sebastian Buemi
4. Nico Hulkenburg
5. Sergio Sette Camara
6. Jenson Button
7. Yuki Tsunoda
8. Guanyu Zhou
9. Paul di Resta
10. Artem Markelov
11. Pascal Wehrlein
12. Sergey Sirotkin
13. Antonio Giovinazzi
14. Brendon Hartley
15. Marcus Ericsson
16. Louis Deletraz
17. Robert Kubica
18. Pietro Fittipaldi
19. Jack Aitken
20. Dan Ticktum
Team Standings:
1. Mercedes (duh)
2. Red Bull
3. Racing Point
4. McLaren
5. Renault
6. Ferrari
7. AlphaTauri
8. Alfa Romeo
9. Haas
10. Williams
Thanks for reading! Check out more posts below:
https://foreverf1.blogspot.com/2014/02/5-most-beautiful-f1-cars-of-all-time.html
https://foreverf1.blogspot.com/2020/11/nico-vs-sergio-vs-alex-for-2nd-red-bull.html
https://foreverf1.blogspot.com/2020/10/10-most-underrated-drivers-of-21st.html
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