Wednesday 17 November 2010

F1 driver market update

After my initial post some weeks back on the driver market, there have been a few more seats confirmed. Some remain up for grabs though...

Key
Confirmed
Almost certain
Maybe
Outside chance

McLaren

Jenson Button
Lewis Hamilton

Both English drivers are contracted until 2012

Mercedes GP

Michael Schumacher
Nico Rosberg

Both drivers confirmed for 2011, however the reserve role remains open. Could be given to GP2 driver Sam Bird who tested with the team this week or perhaps Nico Hulkenberg who is currently out of a drive with a view to taking a race seat in the future.

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel
Mark Webber

Another front runner who have secured their drivers for another season. Some feel that Webber could walk away after some of the tension of this season but i think he will honour his contract for 2011.

Ferrari

Felipe Massa
Fernando Alonso

Massa got a 2 year renewal earlier this season. Robert Kubica has been linked with the seat and is believed to be well admired within Ferrari but has a contract at Renault. Hulkenberg has also been linked with the team but it should be an unchanged line up for the Italian team

Williams

Rubens Barrichello
Pastor Maldonado

Barrichello will have a 19th season in the sport and it's almost certain that Pastor Maldonado will partner him, which will mean the first non-European driver line-up in 6 seasons for a F1 team

Renault

Robert Kubica
Vitaly Petrov
Adrian Sutil
Nick Heidfeld
Nico Hulkenberg

Vitaly Petrov is not certain of a 2011 seat but it looks like he will hang on for at least another season. His 6th place at the weekend will have helped his case. Adrian Sutil seems to have given up on a Renault seat whilst Nick Heidfeld's hopes look distant.

Force India

Adrian Sutil
Vitantonio Liuzzi
Paul di Resta
Karun Chandhok
Nick Heidfeld
Nico Hulkenberg

Adrian Sutil looked at several options but now seems set to stay at Force India. Vitantonio Liuzzi has not been confirmed and faces competition from reserve driver Paul di Resta. Karun Chandhok would slot in nicely with an Indian Grand Prix debuting next year but his only opening may be as a reserve driver.

Toro Rosso

Sebastien Buemi
Jaime Alguersuari

Both men get another season to impress and will want to do just that with the likes of Daniel Ricciardo impressing in testing.

Lotus

Heikki Kovalainen
Jarno Trulli
Bruno Senna

Kovalainen seems happy with the team and will probably stay onboard. Trulli has made it clear he is still motivated to continue racing. Confirmation should be soon. Senna has been linked but i'm not convinced by those reports, will be reserve driver at best i feel.

Hispania Racing

Bruno Senna
Sakon Yamamoto
Christian Klien
Karun Chandhok
Valtteri Bottas
Pedro de la Rosa

This team's future remains up in the air, extremely difficult to know what will happen regarding drivers. They had 4 race for them this season so i suppose they could all have a seat next year but time will tell. Possible tie-up with Williams could affect things. Pedro de la Rosa also linked with a seat

Sauber

Kamui Kobayashi
Sergio Perez

Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez have been confirmed for 2011

Virgin Racing

Timo Glock
Lucas di Grassi
Jerome D'Ambrosio
Gio van der Garde

John Booth says Timo Glock is confirmed and the German says 'it looks like i'm staying'. D'Ambrosio has had some practice runs towards the end of the season as well as testing and looks like a viable contender to take Lucas di Grassi's seat. The Brazilian's future is looking uncertain.

2 comments:

  1. Connor, Virgin is going to be known as Marussia Virgin Racing in 2011. Hispania might have Hulkenburg you never know. It's a bit tight for Hulkenburg that he got a pole postion and could be without a drive for next season.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hulkenberg was apparently offered a HRT seat for 2011 and turned it down

    ReplyDelete