On the Marbles: Silly season
August 23rd 2007 06:10
Starting with McLaren, both Alonso and Lewis Hamilton have contracts, and unless the Spaniard spits the dummy and walks, as predicted by some, Ron Dennis’ dream team will remain unchanged for 2008.
Over at Maranello, both Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa appear to have cemented their backsides into the Ferrari cockpits for another year or two.
BMW, meanwhile have just announced that Heidfeld will indeed remain a Munich man for at least another season, and if reports are correct, another season beyond that.
Nothing is confirmed at Renault, and with the current stinker of a season the French squad is going through, a driver change could be a possibility. Flavio Briatore – managed Heikki Kovalainen is likely to retain his seat given his continual rise in form this season, but veteran, Giancarlo Fisichella should possess a more palpable fear of being displaced by tester Nelson Piquet Jr.
The Williams motorhome has been a popular hangout for a whole host of guys looking for a drive. Former Toro Rosso talent, Tonio Liuzzi, Spyker’s Adrian Sutil, current testers Narain Karthikeyan, Kazuki Nakajima, as well as BMW tester and GP2 series leader, Timo Glock are some of the bigger names trying to squeeze into the possible opening at Williams. Sir Frank has been vociferous about wanting to keep, Nico Rosberg but his grasp on the prodigious young German might not be firm enough to combat the lure of a more lucrative contract elsewhere. Alex Wurz is thought to be on a one-year contract, and could remain a Williams driver next year, but he will have to fight off challenges from the gaggle of hopefuls waiting for a slip-up.
Toyota will have Jarno Trulli on board next year, but Ralf Schumacher’s future appears rather bleak. The German is confident of racing next year, but Toyota must surely be seeking young talent, and could seek to prise Rosberg from Williams using their engine supply to the Grove team as leverage. Nakajima, who is impressing many in the GP2 series is also a possibility, as is Timo Glock and Christian Klien.
Red Bull Racing have already confirmed David Coulthard and Mark Webber for 2008, and their sister team, Toro Rosso will field a rather talented line-up of Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Bourdais
Honda, meanwhile have got both Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello pencilled in for next season. The pair have abandoned all hope of results this year but remain, publicly at least, positive that next season will bode far better.
Japan’s F1 hero, Takuma Sato will again lead Super Aguri in 2008, and teammate Anthony Davidson is likely to join him, but nothing has been confirmed.
Spyker will surely retain their young, German hotshoe, Adrian Sutil next year, unless of course a bigger team poaches him. And while Sakon Yamamoto currently occupies seat number two at the Dutch team, a wealthy bidder may just usurp the decent Japanese driver for 2008.
Then of course, David Richards comes along and throws a spanner in the works by entering his Prodrive team next year, but not even hinting at who will pilot his machines. The most popular opinion is that McLaren’s experienced tester, Pedro de la Rosa is a strong candidate, as is Gary Paffett – also of McLaren fibre. But rumours of Alex Wurz and Anthony Davidson joining Prodrive next year could throw open the market.
Nothing is certain until pen is put to paper, but time is running out for guys like Tonio Liuzzi, Timo Glock, Nelson Piquet Jnr, Christian Klien and Narain Karthikeyan, all of whom have expressed vested interest in racing next year.
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