Its that time of year again when team bosses are starting to make plans for next season and with 3 new teams entering the fray, the driver merry-go round is set to be the most frantic it has been for many years.With the top teams not expected to change much in terms of their driver lineups, there is set to be a few changes further down the order after almost no driver movement in the 2008-09 off season apart from the retirement of Red Bull's David Coulthard allowing Sebastian Vettel to switch from Toro Rosso to Red Bull. All this meant that Sebastien Buemi was the only rookie on the grid for 2009. But with 3 new teams on the grid, the rookie count could rise dramatically as the F1 entry list rises to a guaranteed 26 cars for the first time in 15 years, i'll look at each team and see what driver options they could take up, these are in order of championship position at the moment so ignore the race numbers.
BRAWN GP
1. Jenson Button
2. Rubens Barrichello or Anthony Davidson
With Button leading the way, he will be a driver in demand but after working with the same group of mechanics for nearly 7 years and the fact he took a pay cut to stay with the team formerly known as Honda, its a safe bet to suggest he will be in a Brawn once again in 2010. The 2nd seat though is dependent on the future plans of the popular Rubens Barrichello who if he decides to call it a day will leave a vacant seat with Honda/Super Aguri refugee Anthony Davidson most likely at the top of the Brawn wish list, apart from that, I really cant see any other possibles.
RED BULL
3. Sebastian Vettel
4. Mark Webber
Barring a catastrophic fall out between now and next March, Red Bull's line-up will stay the same.
TOYOTA
5. Jarno Trulli
6. Timo Glock or Kazuki Nakajima or Kamui Kobayashi
The Toyota squad have enjoyed their best start to a season for 4 years and as the phrase goes, "if it aint broke dont fix it." But Toyota have longed to see a home grown Japanese driver get into one of their cars and if that were to happen, it would be Glock's seat most under threat from one of Toyota's young protoges Kazuki Nakajima (now at Williams) and Kamui Kobayashi, the reigning GP2 Asia champion.
FERRARI
7. Felipe Massa
8. Kimi Raikkonen or Fernando Alonso
Massa is not in danger of losing his drive with the Italian legends but if a change were to happen regarding Ferrari's 2nd car, then it would probably be the sensation of the winter, former double champ Fernando Alonso has been sounded out as a possible Ferrari driver ever since he left Renault at the end of 2006, couple that with reported discontent with his current Renault car and Raikkonen's increasing lack of motivation and a move to Ferrari (although being denied continuously) is certainly not a long shot
WILLIAMS
9. Nico Rosberg or Kazuki Nakajima
10. Kazuki Nakajima or Niko Hulkenberg
Williams have had a solid 1st half of 2009 finding themselves in the top 5 with a quick car and in Nico Rosberg, a man in form scoring all of Williams's 17.5 points so far making him well on target to beat his previous seasons best total of 20 points in 2007. Rosberg is nye on guaranteed a seat at Williams in 2010, if he wants it that is. Rosberg has been long yearning to drive a race winning car, he has faith that Williams can produce one, but whether that will be quick enough for his liking is another matter and if a big manufacturer team comes in, ROsberg would seriously consider. If Rosberg were to leave, then Kazuki Nakajima would naturally fill their number 1 drivers slot, Nakajima has no points so far in 2009 but most of that is down to pure bad luck both in strategy and circumstances, like in Turkey when he lost a net 4th place with a faulty wheel nut cover. Also if Rosberg goes, Williams have a ready made replacement waiting in the wings for the 2nd car in the shape of the 2007 A1GP champion and reigning European F3 champion Niko Hulkenberg.
McLAREN MERCEDES
11. Lewis Hamilton
12. Heikki Kovalainen or Nico Rosberg or Pedro de la Rosa or Paul Di Resta
McLaren by their standards have had a rotten year, their worst in 14 years, and all of that stems towards their 2009 car, arguably the worst F1 car ever to roll out of a McLaren factory. This is shadowing over reigning champion Lewis Hamilton's raw talent and shows that even the best can struggle. Hamilton's loyalty to the McLaren team however rules him out of moving on as he i feel has total faith in the team that his 2010 challenger will be a big improvement allowing him to challenge for race wins again. The 2nd seat though is debatable as the team is mulling over whether to keep Heikki Kovalainen or replace him with a more experienced pro-Hamilton incombant Rosberg or one of their line of test/young drivers.
RENAULT
14. Fernando Alonso or Romain Grosjean
15. Romain Grosjean, Nelson Piquet Jr or Lucas di Grassi
Alonso leaving Renault for a 2nd time would be a hammerblow to Flavio Briatore's team, Piquet however is grinding down Briatore's patience at an alarming rate and of all the drivers on the grid is the most likely to find himself out of a drive. So if Alonso leaves, it could be all change at Renault with 2 hard charging GP2 drivers at the top of the list to come in, Romain Grosjean and Lucas di Grassi.
BMW SAUBER
16. Nick Heidfeld
17. Robert Kubica
Despite a poor 2009 so far, the drivers are blameless with reasoning for their poor performance lieing with the teams over-development of their KERS system (which has now been scrapped) and neglecting somewhat their aerodynamic performance. Expect both Kubica and Heidfeld to stay put.
TORO ROSSO
18. Sebastien Buemi
19. Sebastien Bourdais or Jaime Alguersuari or Brendon Hartley
Expect changes here, Buemi has had a solid debut season and without any mishaps should stay on, meanwhile Bourdais has done little to suggest he has improved on his 2008 form, 2 of Red Bull's young program drivers are waiting int he wings should Bourdais be dropped. They are the reigning British F1 champion Jaime Alguersuari of Spain and Australia's Brendon Hartley
FORCE INDIA
20. Giancarlo Fisichella or Vitantonio Liuzzi
21. Adrian Sutil or Vitantonio Liuzzi or Karun Chandhok or Narain Karthikeyan
Force India's driver situation is a lot simpler than most teams, in the perfect world, the experienced Fisichella and the young Sutil have both had solid starts to the season despite scoring 0 points yet but with test driver Vitantonio Liuzzi and 2 of Vijay Mallya's favourites waiting in the wings, the situation could soo change if either or both dont score points.
CAMPOS META
22. Vitaly Petrov or Marc Gene
23. Jaime Alguersuari or Javier Villa
One of the 3 new teams, Adrian Campos has stated he would prefer to have an all Spanish lineup, but considering he has had a long association with the Russian driver Vitaly Petrov, this puts him in the frame for one of the 2 available seats especially considering he also will bring with him valuable russian sponsorship cash. As for a possible Spanish driver, 3 names come to mind, firstly Alguersuari (if he doesn't land an STR drive), then also Javier Villa, an experienced GP2 campaigner and also marc Gene, a man with 10 years of F1 experience, the current Ferrari tester and also a former driver with Campos in the junior formulae.
MANOR
24. Paul Di Resta or Anthony Davidson or Rubens Barrichello
25. Gary Paffett or Adam Carroll or Roberto Merhi
Manor have rumoured to be reconsiderign their F1 entry in light of the change in the budget rules, lets hope its not true as this could be the most interesting entry of them all from a British prospective. It is likely they will follow Capos's ambitions and go for an all patriotic lineup. Paul Di Resta, Anthony Davidson, Gary Paffett or the Irish driver Adam Carroll all come to mind. They could also go foreign too in the shape of a rising stars currently on their books in the F3 Euroseries, Spain's Roberto Merhi.
USF1
26. Graham Rahal or Scott Speed
27. Scott Speed or JR Hildebrand or Jonathan Summerton or Charlie Kimball
The new USF1 squad are likely to want an all American lineup which doesnt give them moch to choose from in terms of good road course drivers. Past experience though could be key which is why Scott Speed is a possibility, the most likely of all though would be the young Graham Rahal.
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