As we come to the end of the Formula 1 season, the team’s driver choices for next year are starting to take shape. These are the drivers believed to be under contract for next season:
Red Bull Vettel Ricciardo
Ferrari Alonso Räikkönen
McLaren Button Magussen
Lotus Grosjean TBC
Mercedes Rosberg Hamilton
Sauber Sirotkin TBC
Force India TBC TBC
Williams Massa Bottas
Toro Rosso Vergne Kvyat
Caterham Pic TBC
Marussia Bianchi TBC
Sirotkin’s position at Sauber is subject to him getting a super licence.
This leaves only six (or seven if Sirotkin’s licence isn’t approved) places left on the 2014 grid. Currently there are eight active F1 drivers looking for a seat:
Perez
di Resta
Sutil
Hulkenberg
Gutierrez
Maldonado
Chilton
van der Garde
There are also feeder series to consider, while Magnussen and Sirotkin have come from Renault 3.5 and Kvyat from GP3, there is no-one yet signed from the ‘official’ feeder series of GP2. The top six there (Fabio Leimer, Sam Bird, James Calado, Luis Felipe Nasr, Sefano Colleti and Marcus Ericsson) all qualify for a super licence by virtue of appearing on the podium more than five times in the last two years. Last year’s GP2 champion (Davide Valsecchi) is also in need of an F1 seat. Then of course there are those ex F1 drivers (Kovalainen for example) who are still hoping to land a drive.
As a result, several of the established drivers will fail to get a drive next season and a number of promising talents in the lower formulae will find their careers halted. So who do you think is deserving of a place next year, and just as importantly who should go?
