FORMULA 1: The 2010 merry-go round

Sorry its been a while since my last update, i'll try and upload more articles in the future including completion of both my Top 20 British drivers list and top 5 worst cars list

2009 is now over and done with and Jenson Button has walked off with a championship win youi would never have expected 12 months ago, now though thoughts turn to the 2010 season, the dawn of a new decade and it promises to be one of the most exciting seasons in years added to that the intrigue of seeing at least four new teams coming in and a grid of 26 cars, something that has not been seen since the Monaco Grand Prix of 1995/ The photo is that of the windtunnel mock-up of the new Lotus F1 car which is currently now in the building phase, all 4 new teams hope to begin testing their new cars in the new year, in the meantime though, each team has their driver pairings to think about, below i have taken each team and put in what i think will be their drivers in each seat, drivers that have been confirmed are designated in Red, so here we go

BRAWN GP
1. Jenson Button
2. Nico Rosberg
Supposedly only slow negotiations in his contract are preventing Jenson Button from signing on in 2010 with the Brawn team, he is expected though to eventually tie up a new deal and be partnered by Nico Rosberg who left Williams after the final race of 2009 after a 4 year stay. One factor that could speed up the negotiations is an imminent deal with Mercedes in terms of a partial buy-out of the team, this could affect the German marque's relationship with McLaren though

RED BULL
3. Sebastian Vettel
4. Mark Webber
Red Bull announced their pairing months in advance, opting for continuity in 2010, Vettel and Webber, both race winners in 2010 will continue an already strong alliance.

McLAREN MERCEDES
5. Lewis Hamilton
6. Kimi Raikkonen
A poor season overall by McLaren's standards but they will go into the winter very optuimistic after a strong 2nd half of the season in which they won 2 races and snatched 3rd place in the constructors championship at the death. Lewis Hamilton stays as he is in the middle of a lucrative 5 year contract and he is expected to partnered by Kimi Raikkonen, who could return to the team after being sacked by Ferrari to make way for Fernando Alonso.

FERRARI
7. Fernanro Alonso
8. Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa stays with the Maranello squad after what was their worst season in F1 for 16 years, he will be joined by Fernando Alonso, providing the team can produce a car that matches the ambitions of both drivers unlike in 2009, then they should be the clear favourites for the major honours.

QADBAK / SAUBER
11. Nick Heidfeld
12. Heikki Kovalainen
BMW announced in the summer that they were pulling out after they had failed to sign the concorde agreement, they then managed to sell the team to Qadbak, an arab investment company but this was after the bidding for their spot on the grid was completed (a bidding campaign which was won by Lotus) but the FIA gave them what was called the "14th spot" meaning that they would get priority choosing to be let back in if any team pulled out, and after Toyota withdrew from the sport shortly after the end of the season, (pending an announcement from the FIA) Qadbak are back on the grid. If they are let back in, i expect them go go with an experieced lineup of Nick Heidfeld and McLaren refugee Heikki Kovalainen.

WILLIAMS
14. Rubens Barrichello
15. Niko Hulkenberg
It'll be all new at Williams in 2010, a return to the Cosworth engines they last used in 2006 and what powered them to their first world championship in 1980 and an all new driver line-up containing the perfect mix of experience and youth. Rubens Barrichello comes in from Brawn as the experienced head, his technical expertise and set-up knowledge will be invaluable for his teammate, the rookie Niko Hulkenberg from Germany, who is quite possibly, the strongest rookie to come into F1 in many years having already won a multitude of championships including the A1 Grand Prix title with Germany in 2006-07.

RENAULT
16. Robert Kubica
17. Timo Glock
No Briatore, No Symonds and quite possibly, no team at all in 2010 if Renault's recent emergency board meeting recently was anything to go by. Such speculation comes with merit after what has been an appalling season for the Renault team, an unusual and blocky car design coupled with an unreliable package and unrest within the team played their parts in a run to just 8th place in the constructors championship, simply not good enough for a manufacturer with a championship pedigree as Renault possesses. Should they be on the grid in 2010, then Robert Kubica will be their lead driver, defecting from the now defunct BMW squad, he would be expected to be partnered by Timo Glock, defecting from the now defunct Toyota squad.

FORCE INDIA
18. Adrian Sutil
19. Vitantonio Liuzzi
Finally, Vijay Mallya's team scored their first points and pipped Toro Rosso to 9th in the constructors ensuring they did not get the wooden spoon, the car was a great package especially on circuits requiring low-downforce setup, that helped enable Giancarlo Fisichella to claim the team's first podium in its current guise with 2nd place in Belgium and its first overall since Tiago Monteiro finished 3rd in that controversial US Grand Prix in 2005. Force India as a result are likely to go into next season with last years driver lineup, the erratic but quick Adrian Sutil as lead driver alongside Vitantonio Liuzzi who displayed good pace in his short end of season stint.

TORO ROSSO
20. Sebastien Buemi
21. Jaime Alguersuari or Brendon Hartley
Overall it was a quiet season for the Red Bull sister team, but that was expected since Vettel left to join the main squad. Despite that though, Sebastien Buemi scored 6 of the team's 8 points, not bad for your first season and enough to make him the rookie of the year. Who will partner him though is up for debate. Jaime Alguersuari tis the favourite to pick up the drive.

CAMPOS META
22. Bruno Senna
23. Pedro de la Rosa or Vitaly Petrov
Of the 4 new teams, Campos were the first to formally announce a driver, that will be Bruno Senna, the nephew of the legendary 3 time world champion Ayrton, also the team were to announce that they were the first to successfully complete the mandatory FIA crash tests, crucial in the cosntruction of their race car. The question with this team now though is who will partner Senna in his rookie season. Pedro de la Rosa is the favourite as Campos would prefer a Spanish driver in their lineup and he would also bring vast experience as a former driver with Arrows and Jaguar as well as a McLaren Tester. Vitaly Petrov is the other driver int he frame due to the Russian's links with the team in lower formulae and his sponsorship potential from the oil rich former Soviet country.

VIRGIN F1 / MANOR
24. Anthony Davidson
25. Adam Carroll
Manor,(another of the new teams) seem to be the least prepared to enter, then again, they are the only new team that have not said much in their press releases apart from former Simtek and Benetton designer Nick Wirth coming in as technical director and announcing a first that the car will be the first ever to be designed using CFD computer software, the same system that propelled Acura to dominance in this year's American Le Mans Series. Also it si expected that they will be announcing a major sponsorship deal with Virgin that could include renaming the team. As for drivers, dont be suprised to see them be all patriotic and go for an all British/Irish lineup. Anthony Davidson is the favurite to be the lead driver despte little racing experience in F1 but despite that, there have been plenty of people saying that he deserves a proper chance in the sport and Manor could provide that for him. The favourite to partner him could be Irishman Adam Carroll, the reigning A1 Grand Prix champion and who could be the first driver from the Irish republic in F1 since Derek Daly drove for Williams in 1982.

USF1
26. Alexander Wurz or Takuma Sato or Jacques Villeneuve
27. JR Hildebrand or Jonathan Summerton
The new USF1 squad have talked a lot about their high ambitions including setting up a european base at Motorland Aragon near the town of Alcaniz in North-east Spain as well as their american base near Charlotte, North Carolina. Team owner Peter Windsor set up the team to try and increase intrest and the profile of F1 in North America so it will be natural for him to want at least 1 American driver in his team, the early favourites to be that driver being Jonathan Summerton and JR Hildebrabd, both successful in lower formulae in the states. The lead seat though is different, an experienced head may be useful in their plans with both Alexander Wurz and former world champion Jacques Villeneuve being names that heve been mentioned, also dont rule out a return for Takuma Sato.

LOTUS
28. Jarno Trulli
29. Fairuz Fauzy
Tony Fernandes's fortune and his links with Proton paved the way for them to win the bidding for the 13th spot on the grid in 2010 and also marking the return of one of the sport's most iconic marques, Lotus. who were 6 times world drivers champions under the legendary stewardship of the late Colin Chapman. Now with the fortune of the Malaysian airline owner and Proton (who own Lotus) they are set to make a return into the field and are already constructing their new car. Fairuz Fauzy is favourite to land one of the seats seeing that they will probably want a Malaysian driver in there with the experienced Jarno Trulli (now available after the withdrawal of Toyota) favourite to take the lead seat.