F1

I have a feeling things will stay largely static before a hectic 2015 market. This will allow teams to easily move into the new formula without the complications of unknown driver parity. However, the wild card team is Lotus, mostly for Grosjean, but also until Raikkonen commits or goes to Red Bull. But Lotus could be seriously lost without Kimi so I think they will push hard to keep him with the new investor’s backing. Also, arguably Mercedes now have the best current driver pairing (in this year’s perspective, 2013).

Red Bull – Vettel, Ricciardo………..(Buemi)
Mercedes – Hamilton, Rosberg (Bird, Hartley)
Ferrari – Alonso, Massa (DLR, Marciello)
Lotus – Raikkonen, Grosjean (Valsecchi, D’Ambrosio)
McLaren – Button, Perez (Paffett, Turvey, Magnussen/Vandoorne)
Force India – di Resta, Sutil (Calado/Nasr on FP1s, Daly in GP2)
Toro Rosso – Vergne, da Costa (Sainz Jr, Kvyat)
Sauber – Hulkenberg, Gutierrez (Frijns)
Williams – Maldonado, Bottas (Mercedes engines – Abt, Wolff. Surely a space primed for rich drivers, e.g. VDG, Nasr doing well in GP2 2013)
Marussia – Bianchi, Chilton (Nasr, Razia still cashless, Petrov similar, Ellinas in GP2)
Caterham – Kovalainen, Pic (Rossi, perhaps some FP1s)

If Grosjean is let go, it is hard to see who would replace him, although there are many worthy drivers around at the moment. Hard to imagine Valsecchi replacing Grosjean, with Coletti filling the same role after winning GP2, so hard to know where GP2 graduates will go in the next few years.

Duplicate Thread Closed.

See here: Silly season: 2014 F1 driver market