Who will drive where in 2007?
After Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella, Juan Pablo Montoya is the third F1 driver who has announced his 2007 plans. Fernando Alonso already announced before the beginning of the season that he'll move to McLaren in 2007 and his current team mate at Renault, Fisichella, has signed a contract with the French team for next season. This week, Juan Pablo Montoya made it clear that he moves to NASCAR.
Today, the McLaren Mercedes Team and Juan Pablo Montoya announced that Juan Pablo will leave the team immediately to prepare himself for the 2007 NASCAR season. Montoya, his wife Connie and son Sebastian will move to Miami. With this news, the rumours about drivers switching teams will blaze up again.
Everybody is waiting for Schumacher's decision to stay in F1 or not. When he makes up his mind, what is expected to happen in September, a lot of other drivers will also know what the future has in mind for them. Kimi Raikkonen is one of the biggest question marks. Will he stay at McLaren to team up with the World Champion? Nobody believes this as Raikkonen and Alonso both want to battle for the title. It's more likely that the Fin will move to Ferrari, if Schumi retires from F1, or Renault. But who will team up with Fernando Alonso in 2007? All eyes are focused on Lewis Hamilton, the GP2 wonder boy and protegé of Ron Dennis. Of course, de la Rosa and Paffett have a shot as well. De la Rosa will replace Juan Pablo Montoya at Magny-Cours and this is a great opportunity for the Spaniard to show his qualities.
At Ferrari, the future of Massa is very unclear and will completely depend on what his German team mate decides. Massa's contract expires at the end of the season and it's not clear if the Scuderia will continue with the Brazilian driver in their team. Michael Schumacher can be driving his last season. The 37-year-old has been in F1 for 15 years now and has won 7 World Championships, but it seems that the hunger is not yet satisfied.
At Renault, Giancarlo Fisichella already signed his 2007 contract, but who will join the Roman? A lot of names have come up. One thing is for sure, Juan Pablo Montoya can be scratched of Briatore's list. Kimi Raikkonen, Heikki Kovalainen and Mark Webber are a few of the names that are linked with the French team. Though, Heikki Kovalainen also has been linked with Toro Rosso as Renault will most likely supply engines to team next season.
At Toro Rosso, a lot of rumours have been going on as well. It's very doubtful that Scott Speed will keep his race seat with the team. Christian Klein (Red Bull) would move to Toro Rosso, but he also has been linked with NASCAR and Champ car. Tonio Liuzzi would move to Red Bull again to take the empty seat next to David Coulthard, who's almost certain of a new contract.
'Quick Nick' Heidfeld will keep his seat at BMW Sauber, but it's not sure what will happen to the '97 World Champion, Jacques Villeneuve. Villeneuve doesn't want to wait until the end of the season to find a team like last year and declared that if he doesn't find an F1 seat, he'll move to NASCAR as well. Robert Kubica, BMW's test driver, has shown his potential and it's possible that Mario Theissen and the BMW Sauber team will sign the Pole up for a 2007 race seat. Though, Toyota's Ralf Schumacher has been linked with the German team as well. Ralf still has a contract with Toyota, so this isn't really a possibility.
At Honda, both drivers will keep their race seat in 2007 as Nick Fry keeps on supporting both Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. With Williams, Nico Rosberg is certain of his 2007 race seat, but it's not clear if Webber will be driving for Sr. Frank next season. The Australian isn't happy with the perfomance of the car and if this doens't improve, it's possible that he'll take the offer of Renault or another team.
At Toyota, Ralf Schumacher still has a contract and it's likely that he'll stay with the Japanese team even if he has offers from other teams as BMW Sauber. Jarno Trulli's contract expires at the end of the season and in the beginning of the 2006 Formula One season, it was rumoured that it would be the Italian's last year in F1. Earlier this month, John Howett, though, declared that Trulli is close to a new contract with Toyota.
Takuma Sato will keep his race seat with the Super Aguri Formula One Team and will team up with Anthony Davidson according to the rumours. Davidson was offered a race seat with the team in 2006, but the Briton decided to stay another year with the Honda Racing F1 Team.
Tiago Monteiro and Christijan Albers will probably stay with the Midland F1 Team.
As you see, there are only 3 drivers who have showed their 2007 colours and it's likely that the rumours will continue until the end of the season.
