Did someone say 'Silly Season'?
What is it? It's that time of the year where fans, journalists, and media gabble about potential next-season team driver-pairings.
We've been keeping an eye on all the talk, so lets go through the teams and see what could be next year.
Starting off with Red Bull, latest rumours are that Sebastian Vettel could very likely end up on McLaren-Honda. Why? McLaren could very possibly end up being #1 in F1 again with the new Honda partnership. As for Ricciardo? He probably won't be leaving Red Bull for at least another year. He just joined the team, why leave so soon?
Mercedes is a different story. Due to highs and lows, ups and downs and constant battles between the duo of Lewis Hanilton and Nico Rosberg, Mercedes has admitted it could can one of the drivers at the end of this season, even though Rosberg already extended his contract with the German team. Hamilton however has been linked to, (you guessed it), McLaren.
So why don't we jump to McLaren then? Button and Magnussen. Champion and Rookie. With Ron Dennis back, the team is recovering from last year's tough to drive MP4-28. with a podium score from Magnussen and impressive points scoring from Button, the team seems well off retaining both right? Well, wait.. Hold on. Accordin to multiple media reports, the Woking-based team is talking with multiple drivers. Some say it's Alonso and Vettel, others say it will be Magnussen and Vandoorne? What about Button and Vandoorne? What about their development driver, Oliver Turvey? He's been with the team for years. This one could remain unconfirmed for weeks.
Which team is next? Ferrari. Well, Marco Mattiaci has said he wants to keep both Alonso and Raikkonen for next year, so that toned down the driver rumours, but.. Earlier this year after Bianchi's points score for Marussia in Monaco, people went wild, saying he'd get a drive for Ferrari in 2015. It could happen. We won't count it out. Another driver linked to the Italian Team is Nico Hulkenberg.
Moving on to Force India, here's where things get intetesting. The team currently has a great line-up consisting of Hulkenberg and Perez. But, rumours are swirling that with the arrival of the Mexico GP next year, Force India possibly want to have both Mexican drivers on the team. That would mean Hulkenberg would need somewhere to go and Gutierrez would partner up with Perez. But Gutierrez isn't the only one being linked to the Indian team. Other names have included: Giedo Van der Garde, Jules Bianchi and their own test driver, Daniel Juncadella.
Williams? Well, Williams has confirmed they're keeping Bottas and Massa for 2015 (See recent article for more details) - Now, while possibility of another team buying one of them out of their contract could happen, it is very unlikely that it will. Same things goes for Toro Rosso who confirmed Daniil Kvyat and Max Verstappen.
So, on to Sauber. Indeed they have had a tough year and they stand 10th in the Constructors. But, both drivers are very talented. Both Gutierrez and Sutil have been giving their all this season, trying to score points for the Swiss team. Rumours that Sutil was being dropped and replaced by reserve driver, Giedo Van der Garde, surfaced right before the German Grand Prix. We won't rule this out. Van der Garde has had over 5 Free Practice outings this season alone and has participated in some of the in-season testing sessions. There's also a possibility that Russian teenager, Sergey Sirotkin could be handed his F1 debut with the team in 2015.
Lotus is next on the rumour list. They've confirmed Pastor Maldonado for 2015, but remain coy on if Romain Grosjean will be sticking around past this season. Lotus needs funding, a driver with good sponsership and good racing talent. Grosjean has both of those, but sources say he's looking to head to a different team. So, if he does leave, who could potentially take his place? Names being linked to Lotus include: Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Gutierrez and Jean-Eric Vergne, who was recently let go by Toro Rosso for next season.
Caterham is the next team on the list of silly rumours. During the season there's been a lot of talk about them switching out one of their drivers before 2015. They switched out Kamui Kobayashi for one race and brought in Le Mans winner, Andre Lotterer. Marcus Ericsson brings in most of the funding and it seems he'll stick around for another season. As for Kamui, he may not. While nothing is confirmed, it could be that Carlos Sains Jr is about to get handed his F1 debut on the Green Team next year.
As for Marussia, there was a lot of drama surrounding the team earlier this season when Alexander Rossi was given the chance to race due to Chilton stepping away for the weekend due to funding issues. However, after FP1, Max stepped back in, denying the chance for Rossi to be the first American F1 driver in over 12 years. Marussia has said they are happy with their current line-up, however, Bianchi may be offered other options. It's been said he's in contact with both Ferrari and Force India.
So, whether you're rooting for Vettel to McLaren or Button to Mercedes, one thing is for sure, you're playing Silly Season with the rest of the F1 world. Let us know your dream team line-ups!
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Article Written By: Amy Hawk.
No copyright infringement intended.
