Will Formula One See Finn Valtteri Bottas In Wonderland?

With Kimi Raikkonen not firing on all cylinders Ferrari is looking at possible replacements but does the obvious choice mean we’re likely to see half the drivers change places?

A bright idea came into Alice’s head. “Is that the reason so many tea-things are put out here?” she asked.
“Yes, that’s it,” said the Hatter with a sigh: “it’s always tea-time and we’ve no time to wash the things between whiles.”
“Then you keep moving round, I suppose?” said Alice.
“Exactly so,” said the Hatter: “as the things get used up.”
“But what happens when you come to the beginning again?” Alice ventured to ask.

She didn’t get an answer, Lewis Carroll having a Hare interrupt at the crucial juncture, and whilst it might be a bit bizarre, those that like to bet on sport in Finland, particularly motorsports, might want to start considering their fellow countryman Valtteri Bottas’ career in Formula One to be entirely akin to Alice’s adventures in Wonderland at the Mad Hatter’s tea party, and as the rumors swirl the implications of possibility concerning his future start to settle in across the paddock.

Will Bottas Go To Ferrari?

• Raikkonen may be replaced
• Fellow Finn could take drive
• Musical chairs to follow for grid

Now some of you might at this point expect me to launch into a diatribe against Formula One and it’s many, many faults. I could bemoan the precision, I could deride the predictability, and I could demolish the drivers for being, frankly, a dull bunch at best. I could allude to the rules being as incomprehensible as at the tea party or even compare Bernie Ecclestone to the Queen of Hearts (possibly including the phrase “Off with his wheels!”) but I shall resist the temptation. For now.

The fact is however that with the rapid fade of Kimi Raikkonen’s ability to gain results at Ferrari the team have been scouting around for a new driver to replace him. It is entirely possible this is being done merely to light a fire under the Finn’s backside but with recent results having seen him significantly underperform, his future may well no longer lie with Ferrari in Formula One and more with touring car or even Formula E.

Raikkonen’s Fade Beckons Valtteri Bottas

Raikkonen’s future at Ferrari however doesn’t merely affect him or the inclinations of those who stray beyond the Finnish gambling laws‘ bizarre closed-shop restrictions to wager on sites like ComeOn! Sportsbook, to put money on him, it also effects nearly every other driver in the upper echelons of motorsport’s most prized competition. Just like at the Mad Hatter’s tea party when things get used up they all move round, and that could spark an interesting shuffle ahead of next season.

Bottas is almost certainly the most likely candidate to replace fellow Finn Raikkonen at Ferrari, with the owners of the blood red cars attempting to make as good a stab as they can at catching the Mercedes’ level of performance. This season Vettel has done what he can, and even Raikkonen has show moments of his flair, but over-all Ferrari, like many other teams, are already looking ahead to next year when hopefully they’ll be able to sustain a race pace like the silver streaks.

Mercedes dominance, they reason quite rightly, must one day come to an end, and when it does Ferrari wants to be ready to pounce and reclaim some of the glory they feel has been harvested by Hamilton and Rosberg’s private little war at the top of the driver’s championship. When third is the most realistic expectation you can have, it’s nice to think that next season will be different, but for that they might need a different driver line up. Vettel is, of course safe at the German team, but Raikkonen isn’t.

Ferrari May Swap Finn For Finn

At present Valtteri Bottas drives for Williams, but should he move “up” to Ferrari next season who would fill his spot at Williams? Which of the rest of the grid would be given that drive? Several candidates present themselves but then their leaving would leave an empty cockpit in the team for which they now drive, and on and on it goes. If Bottas is offered Raikkonen’s spot there will be a knock on effect down the grid that will make the Mad Hatter’s tea-party look positively sane.

Not that this is anything new, but I for one won’t be gambling news of half the drivers below the top three changing teams will do much for viewing figures, the almost incestuous nature of the posh-boy’s motor club perhaps being a little too evident at a time when it is already appearing to be just a little too complex and quite a long way up its own arse. That said, whilst recovering from the European song contest 2015 Finland will be glad to have a driver in the top flight of F1.

The F1 circus is off to Hungary next where the track surface is always of issue and the result really isn’t in doubt. ComeOn! Sportsbook is giving Lewis Hamilton 1.43 ahead of Nico Rosberg on 2.80 and then the massive gap between Mercedes and everyone else is reflected in Sebastian Vettel only getting 12.00 to win and Raikkonen, fourth favourite, only getting 21.00 with Bottas way behind at 41.00 perhaps highlighting that if he wants a better chance, he’ll need a better car, and if Ferrari offer it to him, chances are he’ll take it and the drivers will all swap places at the table of Formula One’s tea party.