With the confirmation from Ferrari that Kimi Raikkonen has been retained for the 2016 season, attention now turns to who will fill the remaining seats on the grid in Australia on April 3rd.
Who is confirmed already?
So far only 3 teams have officially confirmed their driver line-ups for 2016: Mercedes, Sauber and now Ferrari.
MERCEDES
Both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg will remain at the World Champion Constructor team for a fourth season. Rosberg confirmed a contract extension last Summer on a “multi-year” contract whilst Drivers World Champion Hamilton finally completed the deal for a further three seasons in May of this year.
SAUBER
Surprisingly, Sauber were the second team to confirm their 2016 drivers given that the team are usually one of the last to announce drivers as they rely heavily on driver sponsorship in their current financial position. Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson have both been re-signed for 2016 much to their relief given the unprecedented scenes in Melbourne regarding Sauber’s drivers for this year.
FERRARI
Quadruple World Champion Sebastian Vettel signed a three-year deal with the Maranello team – who have now ended speculation by announcing Kimi Raikkonen will once again partner the German for the 21 races next season.
Who is likely to be confirmed?
RED BULL
Both Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kyvat are on central Red Bull contracts since their Toro Rosso days but their contract length with the main Red Bull team have never been made public. They are both expected to remain at the former World Champion team for 2016 as their performances haven’t warranted a change and reports suggest a new multi-year deal for Ricciardo is pending.
WILLIAMS
Felipe Massa has shown his talent this year in a very strong Williams car and often beating his highly regarded Finnish teammate Valtteri Bottas. Massa is believed to be on a three-year deal when he joined for 2014 and the final year maybe performance-related, but there is no doubt Felipe still has the ability to compete at the front if given the car to do so. Meanwhile, Bottas was tipped to replace Raikkonen at Ferrari but now that has been closed off, it is more likely the Finn will stay at the Oxford-based team for another season with a view to a Ferrari drive in 2017.
MCLAREN
Chairman and CEO Ron Dennis has emphasised that both Alonso and Button are on multi-year deals, however, exactly how long those deals are for remain almost as much a mystery as the details of Alonso’s crash in pre-season testing at Barcelona. If the team show some progress by the end of 2015, expect to see the two former World Champions remain but should no progress be made one or both could exit stage left. Other options in the field are limited for these two experienced drivers if the Red Bull and Williams jigsaw pieces above fall into place. Kevin Magnussen may have to look to another series if neither driver moves and he wants to prove his worth to return to a full race seat in the future.
TORO ROSSO
Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen were announced as just one-year contracts but given the outstanding performances for both drivers so far this season it would be very unlikely to see either replaced or move elsewhere.
FORCE INDIA
With Mexican sponsorship and exposure in the Central American market, Sergio Perez was another driver signed on a multi-year deal to keep the Mexican at the team until the end of 2016 at least. Nico Hulkenberg is likely to remain also given no options to move into a front of the grid team and is highly regarded by team boss, Vijay Mallya, so expect no change at the Silverstone-based squad for next year. Hulkenberg may be attracted to a tie-up with Haas F1 given the American team are using Ferrari technology but also other series may be attractive given his Le Mans success this year.
LOTUS
One of the disappointing teams so far of 2015 especially given the Mercedes power unit they now use. However, both Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado haven’t performed significantly poorly (excluding the latter’s multiple penalties at Hungary) and with uncertainty still surrounding the team regarding its financial situation it is very likely Maldonado will remain alongside the Frenchman for another term.
Open for discussion?
MANOR
Will Stevens was announced for 2015 only whilst Roberto Mehri was initially named only for the ‘opening rounds’ of the season. However, both seats are available for 2016 and drivers with substantial financial support are likely to be considered to help sustain the team including the current two who have driven well this season.
HAAS
American team Haas F1 will arrive on the grid in Melbourne one year after their initial appearance was expected after the team elected to postpone their debut. The 11th team currently have no drivers confirmed but it is believed a list of approximately 10 drivers are being considered including the likes of Jean-Eric Vergne, Alexander Rossi, Esteban Gutierrez and even Nico Hulkenberg.
Team principal Guenther Steiner told Haas’ Youtube channel that they ‘need experience, and if the experience is coming with speed, even better’. It is likely, therefore, either Vergne or Gutierrez will take one if not both seats at the newest team on the grid.
