Now that we are in the summer break and approaching the last part of the 2010 Formula 1 season its probably time to review the drivers and teams for next year
McLaren
Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button are set to stay. In 2008 it was reported that he had signed a 5 year contract with McLaren after his successful debut year. That means Hamilton is set to stay till the end of 2012. Jenson Button too has a three year contract with McLaren, that would mean he is with them till the end of 2012.
With both drivers comfortable in the team and the team's ability to provide a car that can challenge for titles it hard to see either not seeing out the contract. One wonders if Hamilton would ever drive for another team.
Mercedes GP
For the current constructor champions they have had a rough year. It didn't start all that bad for them. Ross Brawn was able to successfully bring back Schumacher out of retirement for a three year deal. I couldn't find any information on the tenure of Rosberg's contract. But three years should be the norm and for next year the same driver pairing should continue. Never mind the rumours that Schumacher will retire by the end of the year. He won't.
Red Bull Racing
Sebastian Vettel has a contract till the end of 2012 and Red Bull may well be trying to add another three years to that. Mark Webber extended his contract by a year till the end of 2011. Although Red Bull are yet to win a championship this year and to some extent last year proved that they are a big force in the years to come. The two drivers are confirmed to drive for next year.
Ferrari
No surprises here. Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa's contract are till the end of 2012. Interestingly most of the drivers in the top team's contract are set to expire by the end of the 2012. The driver market is wide open in 2012.
Renault
Like most of the top drivers Kubica has extended his contract with Renault till the end of 2012. Vitaly Petrov however has a single year's contract with Renault. Hungary was the best race for him this season but he needs more like that. There is speculation about other drivers for Petrov's race seat - Nick Heidfeld, Adrian Sutil, Kimi Raikkonen, Kamui Kobayashi, but nothing concrete as of now.
Force India
The contracts of two Force India drivers can only be speculated. Liuzzi has a contract for 2011 but its not clear if its a race seat contract. Liuzzi started out as their test driver in 2009 but graduated to the race seat after Giancarlo Fisichella moved to Ferrari. Adrian Sutil's contract was to end in 2009 and it was extended for this year. It would be interesting to see if Paul di Resta will be give a few races next year. He has been a regular friday driver for the team.
Torro Rosso
Torro Rosso are set to continue with their existing line up for next year. Buemi is probably looking at a race seat at Red Bull when there is an opening there.
Sauber
Kamui Kobayashi has a better part of the season of late. He now has 17 points while Pedro de la Rosa has 6. Sometime back De la Rosa said he is not sure about next year yet. Kobayashi might continue with Sauber next year unless the speculation linking him to a Renault seat turns out to be true
Williams F1
It does seem that Williams is happy with their current driver lineup. I believe that the contract with these drivers is for 2010 as of now, but we may well see an extension of their contracts.
Lotus Racing
Lotus Racing have done the best so far among the new teams and also seem the most stable. All the new teams have contracts with their drivers only for 2010 which seems the obvious. But we may see both Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli continuing for next year. Next year Lotus may also be eyeing a race for one of their Malaysian drivers, maybe Fairuz Fauzy. Lotus Racing recently announced that a 16 year old Karting driver Nabil Jeffri would be doing an aero test on their car next month.
Virgin Racing
Timo Glock is probably set for next year, but he might be looking to graduate to one of the established teams. When Toyota left F1 he couldn't get a race seat with one the established teams. Ironically when he was injured last year, Kobayashi replaced him for the last two races of the season and impressed enough to land a Sauber seat. Nothing is clear about Lucas di Grassi yet.
HRT
Hispania Racing has four drivers in their team, but none of them have a secure deal for next year. HRT have had a rough year so far and would probably delay thinking about the driver lineup till after the season.
