(Mercedes AMG F1 Team)
The Mercedes AMG F1 Team's announcement today that Nico Rosberg has extended his stay with the Silver Arrows sets in stone one of the most wanted seats in Formula One with the German team currently dominating Formula One. Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton is in the second year of a three year deal with the Brackley based outfit.
Over at reigning world champions Infiniti Red Bull Racing four time champion Sebastian Vettel has a contract in place with the team until the end of next season however with the imminent departure of chief technical officer Adrian Newey who will move on to other projects for the company it remains unclear whether the German will be stay with the Milton Keynes based outfit beyond the end of next season.
Daniel Ricciardo who joined the team from Toro Rosso for 2014 is a long term protege of the Red Bull young driver programme so it is extremely likely that the Australian will remain at the team next season as he is currently beating Vettel in the championship and has taken one victory so far this season, his first ever Formula One win.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso has a deal i place with the team until the end of 2016 while Kimi Raikkonen is under contract until the end of next season with an option on his side to extend the agreement until the end of 2016.
The Williams Martini Racing Team have a long standing agreement with Valtteri Bottas who has been with the team 2010 and is likely to play a key part in the outfit's long term future. Felipe Massa is in the first year of a three year contract that will see the Brazilian with the team until the end of 2016.
At Sahara Force India Nico Hulkenberg is on a multi year contract while team mate Sergio Perez has certainly done enough to stay with the Silverstone based squad next season and beyond after joining the team from McLaren over the Winter.
Speaking of McLaren uncertainty remains over the future of 2009 world champion Jenson Button who is out of contract at the end of the year. Racing Director Eric Boullier has said that he would like to see Button remain with the outfit into a sixth season. McLaren CEO Ron Dennis is happy with his current drivers but has issued them with a warning that both Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button need to up their game for the rest of the season but Dennis has conceded that the team need to give them a competitive car.
The Sauber F1 Team brought in Adrian Sutil to partner Esteban Gutierrez for this season however it is unclear if they will be with the team next season as they have struggled so far in 2014. The Swiss team have yet to score a point so far and Dutch test driver Giedo Van Der Garde has driven very well during Friday practice so could be on for a race seat next season.
The teams new affiliate driver Simona De Silvestro has been working extremely hard for the team and has gained her mandatory FIA Super Licence and could drive in a number of Free Practice session's towards the end of the season. The Swiss driver could potentially become the first female driver on the Formula One grid in over 20 years. She is an extremely talented driver and just like Susie Wolff at the Williams Martini Racing Team, De Silvestro deserves a chance in Formula One. She would also bring financial backing to the Sauber F1 Team in the form of sponsorship.
At the Caterham F1 Team it is unclear as to who will be with the team next season as they have recently been taken over by a Middle Eastern/ Swiss consortium. The new owners are currently undertaking a major restructuring programme within the Leafield based outfit whether or not that will mean a change in their driver line up only time will tell.
At the Lotus F1 Team, it is likely that they will retain the same pairing of Romain Grosjean, who has been with the team since returning to F1 in 2012 while Pastor Maldonado brings substantial financial support in the form of sponsorship from Venezuelan oil giant PDVSA. The Enstone outfit have endured a difficult season so far in 2014 however they can expect to be more competitive next season when they switch from Renault to Mercedes power units as McLaren will move to Honda next season.
The Marussia F1 Team are likely to retain their line-up as Jules Bianchi is part of the Ferrari Young Driver Programme and Ferrari supply the Banbury outfit with power units and should Kimi Raikkonen call time on his F1 career at the end of next season that could potentially allow Bianchi to join Alonso at the Italian team.
Finally, Scuderia Toro Rosso are likely to retain both Jean Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat as they are part of Red Bull's driver programme and Kvyat has impressed Red Bull bosses so far this season. It will be extremely interesting to see what happens over the course of the Summer break which gets underway following next weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix and is traditionally when driver deals are done.
© Ben Johnston 2014
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