Predicting how the 2023 F1 grid could shape up after 'Alonso's middle finger to Alpine'

Formula 1's annual summer break is usually a time when teams and drivers fill vacant seats ahead of a new season. And with half of the ten teams confirming their 2023 line-ups, others are yet to fill one or both seats.

It opens the door for the annual round of musical chairs. Or, as it's more commonly known, the Silly Season. This period is one of the most uncertain in F1 and anything can happen, as we've seen with the Alpine-Alonso-Piastri drama.

Former F1 driver Marcus Ericsson gave insights into how the 2023 season plays out and which drivers will end up where. Ericsson raced in F1 between 2014 and 2018. He competed for the Caterham team in 2014 before joining Sauber for the remainder of his career. In 2019, he joined the American-based Indy Series, winning the 2022 edition of the Indy 500.

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The confirmed seats

F1's top teams have their drivers for 2023 locked in. Red Bull Racing will continue with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, and Ferrari with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. All four drivers have contracts until the end of the 2024 season, bar Verstappen who is contracted until the end of 2027.

Over at Mercedes-AMG, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell are tied down for 2023, and McLaren continues with Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo. Aston Martin recently announced that Fernando Alonso will replace the retiring Sebastian Vettel in 2023 and will partner Lance Stroll, son of the team's owner, Lawrence Stroll.

And here's where things are beginning to get tricky.

Ricciardo's performances the last two years have left much to be desired, with it alleged that the team could activate an exit clause that will leave the