F1 2012 Driver Market Part 2

As it says on the tin:

Williams
Nothing yet confirmed here, however the most likely partnership seems to be Pastor Maldonado alongside F1 returnee, 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen, with current team leader Rubens Barrichello sent on his way to retirement, or possibly a temporary gig at Lotus until Robert Kubica is fit. Now this writer is no fan of Maldonado- despite being statistically the worst Williams driver ever (and in this case, the stats do not lie), he will almost certainly retain his seat at Barrichello's expense, primarily due to the sponsorship deal he brings to the team from PDVSA, the Venezuelan state oil company, said to be worth somewhere in the region of £25 million per year. That deal, though, is reportedly under scrutiny- should the plug be pulled, that will almost certainly be the end of Maldonado's less-than-impressive F1 career, certainly with Williams, which could lead to Barrichello being retained, or perhaps a seat for likely Force India refugee Adrian Sutil

Toro Rosso
The smart money (and, in this writer's opinion, the smart thing to do) is on the retention of Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari. However, both Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne of the Red Bull young driver stable are pushing very hard for a race seat- 1 of the 2 is likely to get at least some Friday morning mileage with the team, with a mid-season promotion a strong possibility should Buemi or Alguersuari fail to deliver

Marussia (nee Virgin)
Another name-changer. Timo Glock has a contract for 2012 and will be retained unless offered a drive from a much bigger team, which seems highly unlikely. Alongside him looks likely to be GP2 graduate Charles Pic, with Jerome D'Ambrosio likely to find himself gaining occasional employment as Lotus reserve driver- he's not thought to be a serious contender for a race seat. Canadian Robert Wickens could yet claim a race seat, but is more likely to find himself as 3rd driver, doing the odd Friday run

HRT
Pedro de la Rosa is confirmed as 1 of their drivers. The 2nd seat is likely to be decided by the size of the driver's budget. De la Rosa's compadre, GP2 graduate Dani Clos, is likely to be a contender having tested for the team during the Abu Dhabi young driver test. The addition of de la Rosa is a smart one, providing technical direction and a solid benchmark should a top team wish to evaluate a young driver, such as Red Bull did with Daniel Ricciardo

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

Preview of Weekend Betting Preview

Ahoy, folks!

A quick line to say that I'll get a preview of this weekend's action up tonight, for tomorrow be featuring a classic game of Friday Football for this writer. I'll also hopefully squeeze in a quick bit about F1. On F1, looks to me judging by this article http://www.autosport.com/features/article.php/id/3151 that Autosport journo Mark Hughes has had his collar felt somewhat by Ferrari. Hughes is a well-respected F1 journalist from the north-east of England, and says his source is someone within the Ferrari team. Hmmm- I wonder if there's anyone in the Ferrari team who would have access to Felipe Massa's telemetry who's also from that part of the world?

Over and out


"What's this one called, Shrek?"

Bahrain Grand Prix, Sunday 26th April

My Thoughts

Thought I'd deviate from the football for this one and share my knowledge of another great passion of mine: Formula One. This weekend, it's the Bahrain Grand Prix. It's been an enthralling season thus far, with Jenson Button and his Brawn GP team claiming victory in the first 2 races of the season, before last weekend Sebastian Vettel claimed Red Bull's first race win in Shanghai. After the safety-car-interrupted Australian Grand Prix followed by two wet races, Bahrain this weekend looks likely to be the first "normal" race of the season in the desert sun, which theoretically should make it slightly easier to call. However, trying to call anything in F1 is usually very tough, even more so this season. The Sakhir International Circuit has traditionally been a Ferrari track, and despite their wretched start to the season, there were signs of improvement at Shanghai (Massa, usually hopeless in the wet, was running a very solid 3rd until his car died on him), so expect Kimi and Felipe to both be challenging at least for points-scoring finishes. Felipe usually goes well in Bahrain; he qualified 2nd at the track on his Ferrari debut in 2006, before brake issues ended his chances.

The Verdict
Brawn GP and Red Bull have been the teams to beat so far this season. Expect more of the same here, but with Mclaren, and particularly Ferrari, much closer. Perhaps even Alonso may come into contention, certainly on Saturday if Renault run light again.

The Bet
Felipe Massa to win (each way, best price 33/1 with Ladbrokes. This price is certain to fluctuate, however, depending on Friday Practice results)