F1 2012. Who's driving where?

And now for something slightly different....

The driver market for F1 2012 is starting to take shape, however, as I'm about to show, there's still much to be decided:

Top 4 teams
All done and dusted. Mclaren (Button and Hamilton), Red Bull (Vettel and Webber), Ferrari (Alonso and Massa) and Mercedes (Schumacher and Rosberg) are all staying put, at least for the start of 2012. More on that later

Lotus (nee Renault)
This is something of a basket case. Of the current incumbents, Vitaly Petrov has a contract for 2012 and brings in excess of £10 million in funding, but last week's rant on Russian TV at the team must raise questions about his future at Enstone. While he has subsequently apologised, one key quote stood out from the email: "I have one last opportunity to try and make you proud in Brazil". Alongside him since Belgium has been Bruno Senna, who has made a solid if unspectacular impression. A race seat for next season for him is probably dependent on him finding more financial backing. Romain Grosjean is set to take Petrov's car for FP1 in Brazil on Friday, and is widely thought to be a strong contender for a race seat, with him now being stronger and more mature than in his brief stint with the team in 2009. There is also the matter of Robert Kubica- while he has no contract for 2012 with the team, boss Eric Boullier has spoken of the moral obligation he feels to Kubica- if he's race fit for winter testing, one has to believe there's a cockpit waiting for him- if he wants it. More on that later. Externally, another opetion could be Adrian Sutil if he is not retained by Force India, however they are set to be priced out of a move for Kimi Raikkonen. Boullier has already stated his intenton to have 2 top class drivers in the car for 2013.

Force India
Much more straightforward- 2 from Adrian Sutil, Paul Di Resta and test driver Nico Hulkenberg. Paddock consensus seems to be moving towards a Di Resta-Hulkenberg pairing, with Sutil set to go and knock on the doors of Lotus and Williams for a drive

Sauber
Even more straightforward. Current incumbents Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez are both retained

Caterham (nee Lotus)
Again, nice and simple. Current incumbents Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli are retained

Part 2, featuring the remaining teams and Robert Kubica, to follow later this week, but before Brazil