016 - A Wild Stab at the 2011 F1 Driver Market

2010 F1 field at Bahrain GP. Just how different will the 2011 grid look?

OK, so about this time of year the inevitable silly season is fast rolling onwards, and predictions from half witted journalistic wanna-bes start appearing online with speculative considerations on the line up for next year that often turn out to be inherently wide of the mark. So with that in mind, here's mine, though it may be benefitting perhaps from the somewhat calm driver market given the frantic nature of recent years.

Red Bull
Unsurprisingly Red Bull racing have already announced an unchanged line up for 2011, in Sebastien Vettel and Mark Webber. Webber is signed on a one year contract until the end of 2011, whilst the team seem eager to hang on to German Vettel, being that he is by far the brightest seed sewn in the Red Bull Driver Development program thus far.

McLaren
Again McLaren are already set and contracted to retain the same driver pairing and all-British theme in 2011 as used this year, in the shape of 2009 world champion Jenson Button, and 2008 title winner Lewis Hamilton. Should the team manage their drivers as well as this year, given the frictions reported in rival camps this could turn out to become a formidable line-up.

Ferrari
The Scuderia are another team with drivers already under contract. Double world champion Fernando Alonso will again partner Felipe Massa, reaffiriming Ferrari's commitment last year despite his injury to hang on to the popular Brazilian. Massa will need to ensure however he can hang on to his illustrious team mate to ensure his seat remains secure.

Mercedes

Whilst both Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher remain under contract for 2011, rumours are still abound about whether or not Schumacher will continue into 2011 after a disappointing return campaign. Possible replacements include Nick Heidfeld who is rumoured to be announced imminently as Pirelli's tyre tester, which would provide the team with invaluable knowledge should the situation arise.

Renault
It comes as no surprise that the partnership with talented Robert Kubica will extend into 2011, though uncertainties remain over Vitaly Petrov's future. An impressive yet somewhat error strewn campaign may be attributed to the learning curve, and Boullier has hinted more Hungary-esque performances would cement his future at the team. A strong finance and sponsorship portfolio may also save his seat, though recent news has linked Adrian Sutil, Timo Glock, Nick Heidfeld, Bruno Senna or perhaps another Genii Investment backed driver to the drive.

Force India
Should a Renault drive either not materialise or seem less attractive, Adrian Sutil is a shoe-in for one of the Force India positions, though team mate Vitantonio Liuzzi has struggled to match pace and is in danger of losing out to test driver Paul di Resta. Karun Chandhok has been linked with the drive, though is less likely given di Resta's foot is already firmly in the door should a vacancy appear.

Williams
The Grove team will almost certainly hang on to 2009 GP2 champion Nico Hülkenberg who has had a progressive if quiet 2010. The relationship between the team and the well loved Rubens Barrichello also looks certain to continue into the Brazilian's 19th year in Formula 1, leaving no room at the inn here.

Sauber
Few would put money on Peter Sauber dropping the ever improving Kamui Kobayashi, though it would seem Pedro de la Rosa's return to F1 will come to a close at the end of the year. The Spaniard has already openly hinted he is available for employment in 2011, and rumours have strongly linked current test driver Esteban Gutierrez, Sergio Perez (who has backing from telecommunications company Telmex) or possibly Pastor Maldonado given the Venezuelan's current GP2 form.

Toro Rosso
The Red Bull 'B team' have already announced that they will continue to field Sebastien Buemi in 2011 with his aim being a Red Bull seat in 2012, alongside Jaime Alguersuari. Whilst this isn't likely to change team boss Franz Tost is known for being somewhat trigger happy with his drivers should he consider them to be underperforming at all, and with rapid Australian Daniel Ricciardo doing well in the lower ranks and 2010 F3 championship winner (claiming the title this afternoon no less) Jean-Eric Vergne waiting in the wings nothing is quite 100% certain here yet.

Lotus
Lotus played a shrewd and clever move hiring experienced head Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen for 2010. Kovalainen is experienced yet young and has settled well into the team, and is sure to stay on. Trulli may stay on next year, though has looked less impressed and motivated by his new surroundings, and should he retire Lotus have Malaysian Fairuz Fauzy waiting on the bench.

Hispania F1
Possibly the most difficult line-up to predict, Hispania F1's driver line up may rest on their ability to balance the books (see previous post). If possible Bruno Senna is likely to stay, considering there are few options available to him elsewhere. Pay drivers such as Sakon Yamamoto may fill the other seat, though an experienced head such as test driver Christian Klien may be what the team needs to advance through its troubles. That said, Karun Chandhok also performed well given the F110's poor quality, and is surely deserving of a vacancy.

Virgin Racing
Despite languishing behind Lotus for much of 2010, fellow newcomers Virgin Racing have made steady improvements over the season, though whether this will be enough to retain lead driver Timo Glock remains to be seen. Lucas di Grassi has the ability, but hasn't fared well against his more experienced team mate, and may fall foul in the driver market for 2011. As far as replacements go, F2 champion Andy Soucek quit Virgin this week, and other test driver Luiz Razia is far from ready for an F1 debut as yet.

As yet un-named 13th team

The line up here will depend largely on which team gets the nod for 2011 entry. Should Epsilon Euskadi get the go-ahead Dani Clos may be attractive given his nationality. The Villenueve / Durango tie up could give Jacques Villenueve a seat. Stefan GP may well field Kazuki Nakajima for F1 experience value and Toyota backing and support if nothing else. Sergio Perez may be in with a shout given his aforementioned Telmex backing, which would be attractive to a new starter. Pastor Maldonado is managed alike Ferrari tester Jules Bianchi by FIA president Jean Todt's son Nicolas, who it is rumoured is eager to get the Venezuelan GP2 championship leader his break in F1. This will as said hang on who gets the entry and their individual requirements.

Images courtesy of WorldCarFans.com copyright to Davenport and Autosport at http://www.autosport.com. All images property of their respective owners.

015 - The Future of Hispania F1

Bruno Senna demonstrating the difficult handling of the Hispania F110 (Australian GP 2010)

Once again the rumour mill descends on the security of the future of one member of the F1 circus. In recent times the target of such speculation has centred around the immenent departure of one or more of the manufacturer teams (Renault, Honda and Toyota for example), though this year the focus has switched to the sustainability of the new teams, and notably perennial backmarkers Hispania who it is rumoured are struggling to finance the remainder of their 2010 campaign, let alone 2011 development.

Cast your minds back if you will to March and free practice of the opening round of the 2010 Formula 1 season at the Bahrain Grand Prix, and following a last minute rescue deal by Spanish buisnessman Jose Carabante after the failure of initial entry Campos GP, the frantic launch and assembly of the renamed Hispania F110 began. It seems impossible that in such an age in Formula 1 that a car may turn its' first wheel on the eve of a its' Grand Prix debut, but such was the dilemma for the late triple world champion Ayrton Senna's nephew. (Spare a thought for Senna's recently signed teammate Karun Chandhok though, who had to wait a further 24 hours until the qualifying session before he got his first chance to sample the car). The TV pictures bore witness to the car's difficult birth, as both rookie drivers fought to hold on to the car at every twist and turn of the track (see video from Round 2 - Australian GP above). Neither car finished the race, but the fact they even made the grid after a Winter of late payments to chassis maker Dallara and talk of collapse was a testament to the team's resilience. Gradual race finishes and outqualifying the more developed and better funded Virgin Racing team attracted a few small sponsor names, though these were dwarfed in comparison to the driver and team names filling up otherwise blank advertising space and the team continued to struggle eventually splitting with Dallara.

This perhaps if not already evident became more so on the eve of the British GP last month where Bruno Senna was sidelined to make way for Sakon Yamamoto, renowned widely for his wide back catalogue of wealthy sponsors rather than his driving ability. Yamamoto did this reputation no favours by starting the following event (now replacing Karun Chandhok) whilst his pit-lane speed limiter was engaged, before retiring after accidentally tripping the fire extinguisher. Inevitably suggestions began flowing that his seat was a means of keeping the outfit afloat. It must be remembered, that Hispania F1 (then Campos Meta GP) lodged their entry and signed the Concorde Agreement believing a budget cap would be implemented. The subsequent failure of this legislation must have hurt a team with low resources. Team manager Colin Kolles (of Midland and Spyker experience) along with owner Carabante has played down rumours of trouble reiterating that the team has a plan for 2011 and is of sound financial health, with the opportunity of a tie up with Toyota to use their unraced TF110 chassis, staff and data.

“Obviously you have to look in a Formula One team every day how you find more sponsorship and how you survive. [But] I think our situation is not better or worse than any of the smaller teams.” (Colin Kolles, European GP 2010).

Although the well funded Japanese Yamamoto is seeming a permanent replacement for Chandhok, Hispania are in need of funds to secure their future involvement in the sport. Chandhok and Senna have done well to achieve their recorded qualifying and race finish results in a car far behind in development terms than that of their peers, although Yamamoto has been less impressive thus far. Considering the difficult conception of the F110, lack of development and lack of experience of the drivers the team must be acknowledged for their ability to mix with the Virgin Racing team on occasion, though reliability issues have plagued their opportunity to prolong these fights. Whilst it would be a shame to see the loss of a face from the F1 circus, their future and drivers' 2011 employment prospects given the low availability of seats elsewhere on the grid, may rest with the Spanish team's ability to rake in the attention from sponsors, and satisfy their accountants.

* Pictures courtesy of www.f1.co.uk, http://1.bp.blogspot.com/ via Google Image Search and www.hispaniaf1team.com Gallery. All rights held by respective owners.
* Video from YouTube under search heading 'Bruno Senna Hispania Onboard'. Click on video to be redirected to original source.