How Sebastian Vettel unwittingly sparked F1's craziest silly season yet

Sebastian Vettel's retirement from Formula 1 at the end of 2022 sparked a crazy season. He is now a father of three and an activist for social and environmental causes.

Sebastian Vettel announced he will retire at the end of the 2022 season. Aston Martin is looking for a driver to partner Lance Stroll.

Fernando Alonso has signed a multi-year contract with Aston Martin. Alonso considers Aston to be one of the most exciting teams in Formula 1 today.

PlanetF1 reports a dispute between Alpine and McLaren. Oscar Piastri's manager, Mark Webber, is trying to get him into Daniel Ricciardo's seat. Piastsi is Alpine's test and reserve driver. He has a contract with the team until 2023.

Alpine confirm Piastri as one of their race drivers for 2023. Piastsri will drive alongside Esteban Ocon.

Alpine confirmed Piastri as their driver for next year. Piastsri has not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023.

Alonso posts a video of himself on Instagram at the exact same time as Piastri's tweet.

Daniel Ricciardo will be replaced by Piastri for the 2o23 season.

Szafnauer expected more loyalty from Piastri.

Both Alpine and McLaren have a valid 2023 agreement with Piastri.

Ricciardo will leave McLaren at the end of the season. McLaren say the split was "mutually agreed".

Alpine are resigned to losing Piastri and will seek compensation from McLaren. They will probably go and get Pierre Gasly from Red Bull.

McLaren are declared winners of the Piastri tug-of-war by the CRB. Piastsri will partner Lando Norris in 2023.

Helmut Marko confirms that Red Bull would be prepared to let Gasly join Alpine.

Colton Herta is the preferred replacement for Gasly. Herto needs to be granted an FIA Super Licence.

FIA have vetoed the Herta to AlphaTauri move. FIA are refusing to budge on the Super Licence criteria.

Nyck de Vries is the new favourite to replace Gasly at AlphaTauri. He deputised for Alex Albon at the Italian Grand Prix. De Vry met Marko in Austria and they agreed the terms of a deal.

De Vries will test for Alpine in Hungary the following week.

There is speculation about Mick Schumacher's future at Haas. Nico Hulkenberg is thought to be interested in joining Kevin Magnussen.

Nicholas Latifi is leaving Williams at the end of the season.

Fabrizio Romano tweets that Gasly's move to Alpine club is 99.9% complete.

Max Verstappen won the Japanese Grand Prix on the weekend. Gasly signed a multi-year deal at Alpine. De Vries will drive for Red Bull from 2023.

Haas are still discussing their driver line-up for 2023. Schumacher is still 50-50. Ricciardo and Hulkenberg are also in the frame.

Antonio Giovinazzi crashed early during an FP1 opportunity to stake his claim at the United States Grand Prix.

Logan Sargeant will partner Alex Albon next season.

Helmut Marko predicts that Schumacher will be replaced by Hulkenberg at Haas.

After two seasons, Schumacher has been released by Haas. Hulkenberg will replace him. He has nearly 200 career starts in Formula 1 and a reputation as a good qualifier and reliable racer.

Sargeant finishes fourth in the Formula 2 Championship. He is officially announced as a Williams driver the following day.

Daniel Ricciardo is confirmed as the third driver at Red Bull. Christian Horner is excited about it. The current season ends in 2022. Several drivers are out of contract in 2023.