Motorsport Alternatives Pt1: What if there was still 13 teams in F1?

In 2010, three teams were entered into F1. These were Hispania Racing Team, Caterham F1 and Marussia (later renamed to Manor). However, by 2016 these were all gone. Had they survived, with the addition of Haas, there would be 13 teams this year. But who would be where if they were still here? Let's have a look.

First up would be Nico Hulkenburg. He would definitely still be on the grid had there been 26 seats rather than 20. I also think the Williams would be less of a disaster compared to where the other three would likely be. So, I think that Hulkenburg would partner George Russell at Williams in 2020.

The other driver who would be a certainty to be on the grid is Nyck de Vries. The 2019 F2 champion got dropped away to Formula E (although, being with Mercedes EQ would be the right place for a good F1 seat in the future) but if there were 13 teams, he would likely be on the F1 grid. I'd anticipate, based on links, that he'd be the lead driver at Manor.

Nicholas Latifi would likely still have a seat. As much as he's been criticized for being a pay driver, he did finish second in Formula 2 last year and deserves a seat to at least prove his abilities. However, he'd likely be at Caterham or HRT. I'd suggest he'd be at Caterham.

When you look at the other F2 2019 drivers, you have Sergio Sette Camara and Luca Ghiotto next who have signed away from F1. Also, other hyped youngsters such as Robert Schwartzman and Mick Schumacher are still likely too young to graduate. So it may well be F1 castoffs or other test drivers who get the seats.

One driver who was unlucky to be cast off by Williams (or lucky based on their 2019 car) after 2018 was Sergey Sirotkin. The Russian showed enough talent to suggest hw could stay in F1 for a few more years yet and would take the lead HRT seat in the fantasy world.

Stoffel Vandoorne also deserves to still be in F1. While I can't argue with McLaren ditching him for Lando Norris who has proved his worth in F1, Vandoorne is also very muchly worth a seat in F1. Based on his Mercedes links, Manor would likely be where he would be. This would mean that the current Mercedes-EQ team in Formula E's lineup would be in Manor.

Marcus Ericsson was also cast off by Sauber after 2018 and would likely still be in Formula One in 2020 with the extra seats. I'd suggest he would go to HRT as he has previously had a stint with Caterham in F1, which would mean that HRT would have Sirotkin and Ericsson.

For reasons mentioned above, finding the second Caterham driver is very difficult as well. Most of the IndyCar series frontrunners are too old to make the switch. Robert Kubica is unlikely to want to driver around the back again all year. Schwartzman, Schumacher, Armstrong, etc are all too young. Fernando, like Kubica, won't want to be a backmarker. The most likely outcome is Williams loaning reserve driver Jack Aitken to them, to give them a lineup of two Williams-affiliated drivers in Nick Latifi and Jack Aitken.

The grid would therefore look like this:

Mercedes: Hamilton and Bottas

Ferrari: Leclerc and Vettel

Red Bull: Verstappen and Albon

McLaren: Sainz and Norris

Renault: Ricciardo and Ocon

Racing Point: Perez and Stroll

AlphaTauri: Kvyat and Gasly

Alfa Romeo: Raikkonen and Giovinazzi

Haas: Grosjean and Magnussen

Williams: Russell and Hulkenberg

Manor: de Vries and Vandoorne

Caterham: Latifi and Aitken

HRT: Sirotkin and Ericsson

What are your thoughts on these driver lineups? Let me know below! Also, this will probably become a series of hypotheticals, so keep an eye out for the next one!