Former British driver predicts SHOCK moves for two F1 drivers

The Bahrain GP kicks off the eagerly-awaited 2023 F1 season — Photo: © LAT Images

F1 Speculation

Former British driver predicts SHOCK moves for two F1 drivers

Richard Bradley thinks Tsunoda and Zhou's future may lie away from their current teams

Luis Raya

Wednesday 30 August 2023 21:57

Richard Bradley believes that Yuki Tsunoda could replace Lance Stroll at Aston Martin, and that Zhou Guanyu has a chance with Williams in a potential grid shake up.

Lewis Hamilton, Zhou Guanyu, Yuki Tsunoda, Daniel Ricciardo and Logan Sargeant are the five drivers on the current Formula 1 grid who do not yet have a contract in place for next season.

2015 Le Mans LMP2 class winner Richard Bradley has spoken to On Track GP about the future of these drivers, leaving some surprising predictions.

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While the Briton believes that Hamilton and Ricciardo will remain at Mercedes and AlphaTauri in 2024, he doesn't think that the rest of the drivers will remain with their current teams.

Bradley believes Tsunoda's future is linked to Aston Martin, which will be powered by Honda engines from 2026. Honda currently supplies Red Bull and AlphaTauri, and having a Japanese driver in the future would be a great asset for the brand. Bradley thinks that Tsunoda could replace Lance Stroll due to his underwhelming performance.

“I think he will be a very strong contender for the Aston Martin seat," he claimed. "Yes, because remember, Honda are going to be supplying Aston Martin’s engines and he’s obviously an HRC [Honda Racing Corporation] driver and so it just makes logical sense."

The 32-year-old driver believes that the signing could materialise before the start of the Honda-Aston Martin partnership, as early as next season.

“And we’ve already heard the rumours that there are discussions ongoing," he added. “I think that will happen maybe if it’s not next year, 100 per cent the year after. I mean, the guy is performing, the guy is doing really well.

"Okay, he didn’t have the best end result, but he was doing a really good job in Zandvoort. He’s been doing very well lately, in Spa he was doing very well in what is the worst car on the grid. He’s making a good case for himself.”

Zhou could end up at Williams

Richard Bradley predicted Tsunoda could sign for Aston Martin and Zhou for Williams

Likewise, Bradley believes Sargeant has not shown enough in Formula 1 for Williams to renew him for 2024, so he believes the American driver might end up without a seat on the grid.

The Briton thinks that Zhou would be a great candidate for the seat, as he has proven to be a great driver.

“I can see Zhou going to Williams, I can see him taking Logan’s seat,” he said.“Because we know that Williams, obviously we’ve got the new management, but historically they’ve always been a team that’s needed a bit of external budget.

“Zhou’s situation with Alfa, obviously we’ve got a few rumours going around now about that, but Alfa are going towards Audi, the Chinese economy is struggling quite a bit at the minute, I think that’s been well documented in normal news, and I expect that’s what is hurting Zhou’s negotiations at the minute, there’s a lot of uncertainty there.

“But I expect that Williams as a team, if they get rid of Logan, then Zhou is a logical option.”