F1 Gossip: Bottas an option to replace Raikkonen at Alfa Romeo for 2022

- With Valtteri Bottas likely to lose his seat to George Russell for next season, he has emerged as a contender to replace Kimi Raikkonen at Alfa Romeo next year.

According to journalist Dieter Rencken, Bottas would be perfectly suited to the Swiss-based team. The Finn’s only other option besides exiting F1 is a return to Williams.

- Australia is likely to lose its spot in hosting the opening round of the 2022 F1 season. (Speedcafe)

- Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone says he wouldn’t replace Bottas with Russell given that the former has been a ‘loyal’ teammate to Lewis Hamilton since 2017. (Bild)

- Helmut Marko believes Red Bull has the best driver in Max Verstappen, the best engine in Honda and the best car on the grid. (Auto Motor und Sport)

- Marko also doesn’t think Lando Norris nor Sergio Perez deserved penalties for their robust defence manoeuvres in last weekend’s Austrian GP. (Motorsport-Magazin)

- 1996 F1 champion Damon Hill has argued that stricter penalties could potentially lead to better racing in the longer term.

"I think most people would argue that if you allow people to run people off the track, then you're just going to get chaos out there," Hill told the F1 Nation podcast.

"There is an argument to say that the tighter the regs can be, the better racing you're going to get, because it means that somebody will try to go around the outside of the driver on the inside, who then has to make allowances for that.

"So in other words, if you get a car alongside going into a corner, you've got to come out together, not just one of you. It's a different way of looking at the race. If they're taking the sport in that direction, it might mean it's taking away the contact element."

- In a report commissioned by the FIA, it claims the motorsport industry is worth €160 billion (£137bn) worldwide and is responsible for 1.5 million jobs.

- Pierre Gasly completed 164 laps in Pirelli’s latest test of its 2022 tyres at the Red Bull Ring.

https://twitter.com/AlphaTauriF1/status/1412319977663877122?s=20

can’t get enough of the Red Bull Ring 

here’s a video of our AT02, but with black rims and 18 inch tyres pic.twitter.com/goprBDqAqK

— Scuderia AlphaTauri (@AlphaTauriF1) July 6, 2021