What happens on the driver market?
We've only just crossed the half-way point of the season, but most of the Formula One teams have already signed their drivers for 2009. Of course there are still a lot of seats 'open' for next season and rumours are flying around. Especially the future of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen is in the spotlight.
Scuderia Ferrari
Both Scuderia Ferrari drivers have contracts for the 2009 season, Massa even until 2010. Still there are a lot of rumours about a possible retirement of Raikkonen and a switch of Fernando Alonso to the red team.
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
Golden boy Lewis Hamilton has a contract with the McLaren team until 2012. Although he has been linked with Ferrari, after his father and manager was seen with Stefano Domenicali, it is very unlikely that he would leave the team that has backed him since his childhood.
Team mate Heikki Kovalainen has a multiple-year contract and after collecting his first victory at Hungary, it is 100% certain he will continue with the Woking-based team in 2009.
BMW Sauber F1
Robert Kubica, who collected his maiden Grand Prix victory this season, will most likely stay at BMW, but he has been linked with other teams as well for 2009.
Nick Heidfeld has been under fire quite a lot this season and this as he has problems warming up his tyres during qualifying. Still the German has showed his qualities by finishing on the podium a few times. His run to second during the soaked British Grand Prix is certainly his best race ever.
Panasonic Toyota Racing
Toyota will start the 2009 season with the same driver line-up. Jarno Trulli has a contract until 2009 while team mate Timo Glock has a multiple-year contract.
ING Renault F1
The big question mark at Renault is Fernando Alonso. Will the double World Champion stay with the French outfit or will he move to Honda, Ferrari or one of the other teams he has been linked with?
Nelson Piquet Jr. is likely to stay with the team. The young Brazilian had a horrible start to the season, but made this up by finishing second at Hockenheim. It was the first podium of the season for Renault and brought them back in the running for 4th position in the championship.
Lucas di Grassi and Romain Grosjean are on stand by to step in next season, but will Renault replace the experienced Alonso with a rookie? We believe not. Especially not since Takuma Sato has been linked with the Renault seat as well.
Red Bull Racing
The Red Bull Racing F1 Team have already announced their 2009 driver line-up. One week after David Coulthard announced his retirement at the end of this season, Red Bull presented Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel for the upcoming season.
AT&T Williams F1
Williams will most likely stick with their current driver line-up. Nico Rosberg has a contract until 2009 and team mate Kazuki Nakajima has done a good job so far in his rookie season.
Honda Racing Team
Although Ross Brawn earlier said that Honda will continue with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, the team has been showing a lot of interest in Fernando Alonso. They are convinced that with the Spaniard the team can return to the front of the pack.
Scuderia Toro Rosso
Sebastien Bourdais has received a lot of criticism from the press and from his team. At this point it remains uncertain if he will get a new contract for 2009.
At Toro Rosso, the youngsters are in line for a race seat. Bruno Senna, Sebastien Buemi and Karun Chandhok are all linked with the Faenza-based team. This week, Takuma Sato was hinted as a possibility for 2009 as well.
Force India
Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella remain the first choice for the Force India F1 Team in 2009 if we can believe Vijay Mallya. In the meantime Tonio Liuzzi and Karun Chandhok are waiting backstage.
