Over the last few weeks, there has been a lot of talk as to who might be moving teams and who might be on the grid for 2016. With Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari seat uncertain you can’t help but feel all the changes on the grid will come from Ferrari’s decision.
If the Scuderia choose to keep Kimi then there might still be changes but if they choose not to keep him there could be some big names on the move. Valtteri Bottas is the main name linked to the Ferrari drive for next year even more so when the rumour surfaced that Ferrar enquired about a buyout cost of the Finn’s Williams contract. Many other drivers have been rumoured for the Ferrari drive alongside Sebastian Vettel for next year, drivers like Nico Hulkenberg, Jean-Eric Vergne and even Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen have all been rumoured of having a chance for the Ferrari drive.
Williams might lose Bottas so who would they have to replace him if he were move teams for next season? Williams look likely to keep Massa and only 2 other names have been linked with the drive to replace Bottas, the first of the names is Felipe Nasr which for a start having Nasr and Massa in the same team would cause commentators chaos but then also Nasr has signed a new deal at Sauber for next year so is out of the picture. The other name is Jenson Button, the Brit’s name surfaced the other night and could be in the picture for a return to the British team since his debut in 2000, and with his seat in jeopardy at McLaren could he be moving teams?
McLaren have had a turbulent season and rumours that their drivers could be changing once again. Fernando Alonso has a contract for next season, but he has a clause where he can opt out and Jenson Button is on a One-Plus-One contract so McLaren can choose to keep him if they want to. Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne have both been linked for a drive next year at McLaren but only time will tell if they keep Jenson or opt to choose a young driver.
At Red Bull if Daniel Ricciardo does get the Ferrari call up then Max Verstappen has been linked with a drive there, which will then mean a space occurs at Toro Rosso which Pierre Gasly, who currently has a GP2 drive, has been linked with. But these moves are unlikely and both Red Bull and the sister team will more than likely have the same line-ups as this year.
Mercedes also have the same lineup as this year as both Hamilton and Rosberg have contracts. Maldonado and Grosjean have contracts at Lotus for next season but Jolyon Palmer is rumoured for a possible drive there if the results from the current drivers do not improve. As stated earlier Felipe Nasr has signed a new deal at Sauber keeping him there for another season, his team-mate Marcus Ericsson has done the same and both are confirmed for 2016 drives at Sauber. Sergio Perez has a contract for Force India next season and it is likely that Nico Hulkenberg will be joining him there unless he gets the Ferrari call up. Manor Marussia and Haas F1 Team have plenty of linked drivers and both have no confirmed drives for 2016.
It will be interesting to see who will be on the grid will be where and which driver or team will start the chain reaction.
Image courtesy of Williams F1 Team and Scuderia Ferrari
