Suspect the cost of replacing Checo with ending his contract and his sponsorships this early was too expensive even if it costs them the extra money that 1st place in the constructors would bring. Would not surprise me if they have some performance clauses that means they can bin Checo off for cheap by the end of the year if he carries on under performing.

Also suspect that they know who they want next year as well as Carlos choosing to sign for Williams on the same day cannot be a coincidence. They have to be really sure that Max isn't going to Merc next year now as none of the other available options would be even a close replacement for Max.

Merc not signing Max would mean Merc signing Antonelli for that second seat now as Carlos is also not available, shutting the door to Max for 26 as well as they would be unlikely to drop Antonelli or Russell once signing them unless they have an absolutely terrible 25.

And the crowd goes mild.

Perez out, Ric in. Law in vcarb. Ric not performing > exit end of season back to 3rd driver or elsewhere (outside F1). Law or Tsu promote to RB

From the outside, looking at it as a couch analyst, that looks like a slam dunk solution.

Huh. That's a bit surprising, but I guess no slam-dunk to take the seat