Who gets the best Drive in 2010?

Image courtesy: f1wolf.com

It seems like Ferrari will not settle for anything less than consistent World Champions amid their ranks. Why else would they replace one former World Champion with another?

In what has been described as Formula One’s worst kept secret, Ferrari has announced that they will release their 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen a year before his contract expires. Fernando Alonso, a double world champion with Renault, is set to partner a recuperating Felipe Massa in the 2010 season.

Fans and media alike have been speculating on this move for months now. It was evident since the Italian Grand Prix in Monza earlier this year when Santander Bank, the long-time sponsors of Alonso, announced their plans to sponsor Ferrari and McLaren teams. This was believed to fund Alonso’s move. Besides, the crash-gate scandal involving his current team Renault was a good enough reason for him to switch to a more respectable outfit. Who says Formula One is all about speed?

This leaves the 2010 driver market wide open. Who goes where?

Kimi Raikkonen, currently the highest paid driver in Formula One, is also among the most popular figures in Formula One. He is expected to return to McLaren Mercedes, with whom he spent five seasons, before replacing the retiring Michael Schumacher in Ferrari in 2007. Heikki Kovalainen may get the royal boot, considering his performance has been fairly inconsistent. This would give McLaren the most exciting pairing since Prost and Senna: Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen.

It could set up a fantastic environment in the team, possibly leading to fireworks (the kind we saw in the 2007 season). You simply couldn’t find a greater contrast between the smooth-talking, urbane Hamilton and the no-nonsense racer Kimi.

BMW Sauber exiting Formula One has paved a way for Robert Kubica to fill Alonso’s seat in Renault. This was confirmed by team principal Bob Bell, who thinks Kubica is their man with the Midas touch. Nick Heidfeld, the other driver for BMW Sauber, may be preferred choice for Renault over their current rookie driver Romain Grosjean.

Nico Rosberg, another hot favourite of the Formula One experts as a potential World Champion, might be looking at a seat at Brawn GP. He might pip Rubens Barrichello to a Brawn seat, unless the Rubens wins this year’s championship. Jenson Button who led Brawn GP’s surge earlier this year, is likely to remain with Ross Brawn’s team.

Image by: Smriti Srivastava

In case Barrichello fails to find favour with Brawn, he is most likely headed for Williams. Also watch out for Kazuki Nakajima moving away from Williams.

It will be a surprise if either of the Toyota drivers (Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock) remains with them for the next season, considering the team is looking at a future away from F1.

No less than four new teams are expected to arrive on the grid and a major shake-up in the driver line up is expected. Meanwhile, it will shortly be open house in the driver market at Force India and Toro Rosso. Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel must be relieved that they signed their contracts early with Red Bull, and are the only constant driver pair from the 2009 season.

As the teams continue to negotiate and money changes hands, fans like us can only wait and speculate on the game of driver poker being played in the glitzy world of Formula One.

Rule changes for the next season are a big talking point end of this season. Watch out for subsequent posts for more on the same.