Kimi Raikkonen will announce his Formula 1 retirement at Monza, triggering moves for Valtteri Bottas and George Russell in 2022, France's Canal Plus claim.
Over the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, it became somewhat of an open secret that Mercedes has chosen to promote Russell for next season but were holding off on making an official announcement.
The reason for that delay is the final confirmation of where Bottas will be going for 2022, which now appears to be replacing his fellow Finn at Alfa Romeo.
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It's well known that the Swiss team has been in contact with Valtteri, with team boss Fred Vasseur reportedly seen at the Mercedes hospitality multiple times at the Hungarian GP prior to the summer break.
However, Raikkonen had to make his decision on his future before any deal with Bottas could be made, and it does appear that the 2007 world champion will call time on his F1 career at the end of this season, with the news being made public at the Italian Grand Prix.
"I have to take it case by case and with Kimi, we will have a discussion soon about the future, what he wants to do. Then I have to choose the best for the team," the Frenchman told GPFans of Alfa's 2022 line-up.
"We are opening a new era for the regulations and the new car and we want to build up something strong.
"I think that we will do another step forward with the [Ferrari] engine, and we started very early, much earlier than everybody else, on the development of the chassis, and that we have also the stability with our partners.
"Now it means we have a real opportunity in 2022, with the cost cap, the fact that it's the first car developed under the cost cap, and for us it's an open field, let's say.
"I would say that all the lights are green, which means that It's a new challenge, for us on our journey, and we have to make the right driver choices."
Commenting on the future of the driver not chosen to drove for Mercedes in 2022, team boss Toto Wolff was optimistic.
"George and Valtteri would have probably more than one option to stay in Formula 1 and race in Formula 1 with an attractive outlook," he also said via GPFans.
"Most teams see themselves as challengers in 2022, they expect a big step to be done next year because of the cost cap that is now valid for everybody.
"They've concentrated on next year's development very early, you can see that Alfa, Williams haven't brought in a huge amount of pieces anymore for a while.
"I think George and Valtteri would have, whatever we decide, great options."
