Official 2010 Formula One "silly season" thread

[Jungles]

As mentioned in the Kimi Raikkonen thread, there is an important announcement to be made at Suzuka next weekend. Alonso's seat at Ferrari is pretty much all good to go, and Raikkonen's deal to transfer to McLaren is almost wrapped up in parallel.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/78995

I think the time is ripe for a full 2010 silly season thread.

So far, the driver changes appear to be thus:

Raikkonen from Ferrari -> McLaren
Alonso from Renault -> Ferrari
Kubica from BMW -> Renault

Question marks hang over Massa's fitness. He has begun his training regimen for F1, and is due to compete in two kart races as part of his preparation to return to racing. But whether or not he will be fully fit to compete in F1 next season remains to be seen.

Rosberg was tipped to move from Williams to McLaren, but that seems almost impossible now that Raikkonen is set to replace Kovalainen. This raises the question of where Kovalainen will go next season.

Williams is planning to drop Toyota as its engine supplier, which means they will no longer be obliged to keep Nakajima. While he has proven to be a sometimes fast racer, will he be marketable enough if Williams decides to drop him?

Existing drivers who will or are likely to be dropped:

Kovalainen from McLaren (certain)
Nakajima from Williams (maybe)

Existing drivers whose team will no longer exist next season, and whose future is yet unknown:

Heidfeld from BMW

Then there is the question of which drivers will fill the seats in the four new teams: USF1, Lotus, Campos, and Manor. There are potentially three current drivers who will be available to fill seats in those teams, all of whom are experienced enough to play the leading driver role. Heidfeld would have to be the bargain of the season, being the most experienced, most consistent, and the best proven competitor of the three.

New drivers who are likely to enter F1:

Nico Hulkenberg - GP2 champion

If Nakajima is dropped from Williams, it seems most logical for Hulkenberg to fill the seat. He is fast and holds a high reputation among talent-spotters. He also happens to be the Williams' test driver this season.

Junior drivers who have been linked to various tests and deals with F1 teams:

Jules Bianchi - F3 Euroseries champion
Vitaly Petrov - GP2 second
Lucas di Grassi - GP2 third

The above three drivers have been linked to various drives or deals with the teams. Bianchi was linked to Ferrari after Massa's crash. Petrov brings substantial sponsorship and has been linked to drive for Campos next season. Di Grassi was considered as Grosjean's replacement at Renault when he suffered food poisoning at Singapore; he also drove for Campos in the 2008 GP2 season, finishing third in the championship standing after missing the first three rounds.

==============================

In conclusion:
(C = confirmed, N = under negotiation, R = rumour, P = unconfirmed but presumed)

McLaren F1
- Lewis Hamilton (C)
- Kimi Raikkonen (N)

Scuderia Ferrari
- Fernando Alonso (N)
- Felipse Massa / Giancarlo Fisichella (pending Massa's medical)

Renault F1
- Robert Kubica (R)
- Romain Grosjean (P)

Toyota F1
- Jarno Trulli (P)
- Timo Glock (P)

Red Bull Racing
- Sebastian Vettel (C)
- Mark Webber (P)

Toro Rosso
- Sebastian Buemi (P)
- Jaime Alguersuari (P)

Force India
- Adrian Sutil (P)
- Vitantonio Liuzzi (P/N)

Brawn GP
- Jenson Button (N)
- Rubens Barrichello (N)

Williams F1
- Nico Rosberg (N)
- Kazuki Nakajima (N)

USF1 GP
- ?
- ? (at least one American)

Manor
- ?
- ?

Campos
- Vitaly Petrov (R)
- ?

Lotus
- ?
- ?

Edited by Jungles on Monday 28th September 02:31

[Iain328]

Jungles said:

As mentioned in the Kimi Raikkonen thread, there is an important announcement to be made at Suzuka next weekend. Alonso's seat at Ferrari is pretty much all good to go, and Raikkonen's deal to transfer to McLaren is almost wrapped up in parallel.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/78995

I think the time is ripe for a full 2010 silly season thread.

So far, the driver changes appear to be thus:

Raikkonen from Ferrari -> McLaren
Alonso from Renault -> Ferrari
Kubica from BMW -> Renault

Question marks hang over Massa's fitness. He has begun his training regimen for F1, and is due to compete in two kart races as part of his preparation to return to racing. But whether or not he will be fully fit to compete in F1 next season remains to be seen.

Rosberg was tipped to move from Williams to McLaren, but that seems almost impossible now that Raikkonen is set to replace Kovalainen. This raises the question of where Kovalainen will go next season.

Williams is planning to drop Toyota as its engine supplier, which means they will no longer be obliged to keep Nakajima. While he has proven to be a sometimes fast racer, will he be marketable enough if Williams decides to drop him?

Existing drivers who will or are likely to be dropped:

Kovalainen from McLaren (certain)
Nakajima from Williams (maybe)

Existing drivers whose team will no longer exist next season, and whose future is yet unknown:

Heidfeld from BMW

Then there is the question of which drivers will fill the seats in the four new teams: USF1, Lotus, Campos, and Manor. There are potentially three current drivers who will be available to fill seats in those teams, all of whom are experienced enough to play the leading driver role. Heidfeld would have to be the bargain of the season, being the most experienced, most consistent, and the best proven competitor of the three.

New drivers who are likely to enter F1:

Nico Hulkenberg - GP2 champion

If Nakajima is dropped from Williams, it seems most logical for Hulkenberg to fill the seat. He is fast and holds a high reputation among talent-spotters. He also happens to be the Williams' test driver this season.

Junior drivers who have been linked to various tests and deals with F1 teams:

Jules Bianchi - F3 Euroseries champion
Vitaly Petrov - GP2 second
Lucas di Grassi - GP2 third

The above three drivers have been linked to various drives or deals with the teams. Bianchi was linked to Ferrari after Massa's crash. Petrov brings substantial sponsorship and has been linked to drive for Campos next season. Di Grassi was considered as Grosjean's replacement at Renault when he suffered food poisoning at Singapore; he also drove for Campos in the 2008 GP2 season, finishing third in the championship standing after missing the first three rounds.

Discuss away!

Rosberg to Brawn & Barrichello to Williams seems to be a rumour that;s doing the rounds. Would seem unlikely if Woobens won the WDC though. Then again, maybe he'd just pack it in if he did that!

Bernie casting doubts over whether USF1 will happen. BMW now bought so maybe Heidfeld & Kubica will just stay put.

Heikki back to Renault?

[The Riddler]

I've heard things about Piquet jnr and Manor, not sure how much truth there may be in these rumours though.

[Jungles]

Manor's primary sponsor, Virgin, has ruled out associating itself with a "cheat". So if Manor wants Piquet Jnr, they'll have to reject Virgin's sponsorship. That will be quite painful, I imagine. Considering Piquet's lacklustre performance and the probable sponsorship loss, I think it is unlikely that they'll hire him.

[The Riddler]

Read into this what you will. Although Manor too are worried about sponsorship in such a case.

Sky Sports

[Project 644]

Surely we should finish the 2009 thread first? It's been going since April.