©AndrettiAutosport
One is IndyCar racer Colton Herta, who has been talking a lot about his desire of getting into F1 and already completed a test in F1 hardware with McLaren. The most obvious path would be for him to achieve this right now would be through Andretti Autosport, which hopes to launch a brand new F1 team in 2024 (or more likely 2025 after all the delays). That squad could use a Renault power unit, so a tie-up between Alpine and Herta for the interim two years would make sense.
But choosing a complete F1 rookie is always a risky business, so maybe they would be better opting for someone who already has some Grand Prix miles under his belt - someone like Haas' Mick Schumacher or Williams' Alex Albon who are seen as safe, solid choices. However a battle-scared veteran like Nico Hulkenberg would surely be out of out of the question that this point.
Pierre Gasly might have been a better bet for the team as they wanted established a powerhouse all-French national squad, but he's just signed a new one-year deal to stay with AlphaTauri until the end of 2023. Unfortunate timing for the Norman, you might think. If Alpine still want to go full-Gaul then they'll need to look further afield, such as 18-year-old Théo Pourchaire who is currently catching team managers' eyes in second place in the Formula 2 championship, but who has yet to earn the points necessary for a full F1 superlicence. File that one for the future, perhaps.
However it falls out, other people will be affected - especially those closest to the situation in the leading cars at McLaren and Alpine, namely Norris and Ocon. The former has more than proven himself up to the task of being de facto team leader: many thought Norris would suffer alongside a proven talent as Ricciardo but actually it's proved much easier than expected, having already successfully gone toe-to-toe with Carlos Sainz who has since proven what he can do at Ferrari.
But Piastri would be a whole new challenge for Lando, someone of his own age with equally blazing talent. And what about Ocon? He was supposed to be Alpine's foundation on which they could build a championship-winning team, but in the last couple of seasons he's struggled to match Alonso and been relatively unremarkable in a car with the sort of potential offered by the A522. Having Piastri as team mate would have given him a do-or-die kick up the backside that he probably won't get from the return of Ricciardo to the fold; it would be easy for him and the team to fall into the doldrums as a result of this setback.
What's clear about the events of this week is that it's sent shock waves through everyone in the paddock who had expected a nice, quiet siesta in August without a care in the world. Now everyone is back at their desks trying to work out what it all means and how this will shape Formula 1 - not just in 2023, but also in the longer term. Someone is going to lose out in this latest game of musical chairs, but whether it's Piastri (going to a backmarker team) or Ricciardo (back to Alpine or out altogether) or some poor other unsuspecting soul elsewhere on the grid remains to be seen.
As ever, Formula 1 lives in interesting times. The only person who can be truly happy at the moment is Fernando Alonso, the great survivor, who doesn't appear to have a care in the world as he looks forward to extending his tenure in the sport for at least another two years while his peers all fall by the road side.
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