I didn't see this comming, but also after the first shock I'm not that surprised (well, that of all drivers he is the on to do such thing that is). With him I always had the feeling that he is not the most passionate about racing, that he mainly does it because that is what he has been doing since he was young (because of his father) and just doesn't know any better. I'm sure he did like it, but not as much as a hamilton or verstappen and many more
Then, after the first shock I started thinking about the replacement, and I came with a nice theory that will surprise you all I think. There is one driver, that doesn't have a contract in F1 at this very moment, who has been testing in F1 in recent years with a couple of Free Practice 1 outings and has allready got connections with big boss Toto. That driver also has one thing extra that NO OTHER DRIVER will have, and that is the power of being able to blackmail. Picture it like this: "honey, either you will give me a seat for next year, or you will be sleeping on the couch from now on." signed, Susie Wolff. All joking aside, my bet would be Werhlein, or otherwise I am thinking about Bottas to Mercedes, and Werhlein to Williams. I don't picture them going for Alonso, because that is only a short term solution probably, I don't see Max happening because he has a contract with Red Bull, and Red Bull might very well be the better car next year, so I don't see that happening. Vettel.... maybe, but I just can't picture that at the moment, but that is mainly my gut feeling. But only time will tell what it's going to be

I'm very excited about it.