Another update: Glock to Manor, and taking Alan Henry's article into account, which says that Button's on his way to McLaren.

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes (now effectively a Mercedes customer team)
McLaren MP4-25 – Mercedes FO108X
Team Principal: Martin Whitmarsh ; Technical Director: Paddy Lowe, Neil Oatley
1. Jenson Button (if Räikkönen and his management won't back down on their monetary demands)
Kimi Räikkönen (highly likely with Alonso-Ferrari now confirmed)
Heikki Kovalainen ('10 option not taken up)
2. Lewis Hamilton (contracted until '12)

Mercedes Grand Prix (title sponsors Emirates, Orange and Mobil 1 mentioned)
Mercedes W2010 – Mercedes FO108X (Mercedes rumourd in (partly) take-over)
Team Principal: Ross Brawn ; Technical Director: Ross Brawn (?)
3. Jenson Button (negotiations for new contract ongoing, money said to be an issue)
Nick Heidfeld (said to be in contention, should Button leave)
4. Nico Rosberg (ever more likely due to Mercedes deal)

Red Bull Racing
Red Bull RB6 – Renault RS27 (currently) / Cosworth CA2010 (remains an option) / Mercedes FO108X (ever more unlikely)
Team Principal: Christian Horner; Technical Director: Adrian Newey
5. Sebastian Vettel (on a multi-year deal until '11, with an option for '12)
6. Mark Webber (re-signed for '10)

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro (Santander title sponsor?)
Ferrari F2010 – Ferrari 056
Team Principal: Stefano Domenicali ; Technical Director: Aldo Costa
7. Felipe Massa (contracted until ‘10)
8. Fernando Alonso (3-year deal '10-'12)

AT&T Williams
Williams FW32 – Cosworth CA2010
Team Principal: Frank Williams ; Technical Director: Sam Michael, Patrick Head
9. Rubens Barrichello (confirmed)
10. Nico Hülkenberg (confirmed, probably on long-term deal)

Renault F1 Team (take-over by Prodrive and/or Charouz rumoured)
Renault R30 – Renault R27
Team Principal: Bob Bell (interim); Technical Director: Bob Bell
11. Robert Kubica (confirmed for 2010)
12. Franck Montagny (former test driver, brings some experience to the team)
Heikki Kovalainen (may return to the French team)
Lucas Di Grassi (long time Renault development and test driver)
Romain Grosjean (replaced Piquet mid-season; allegedly fallen out of favour due to bad results)

Force India F1 Team
Force India VJM03 – Mercedes FO108X
Team Principal: Vijay Mallya ; Technical Director: James Key
14. Adrian Sutil ('10 option taken up by the team, but free to go to bigger team)
Nelson Piquet (could be an option if Sutil leaves)
Karun Chandhok (after another GP2 season, he gets the nod from Mallya; will test McLaren simulator)
Neel Jani (Swiss with Indian father, will test McLaren simulator)
15. Vitantonio Liuzzi (has '10-'11 deal)

Scuderia Toro Rosso
Toro Roso STR5 – Ferrari 056 (Ferrari contract allegedly runs until ‘10) / Renault R27 (if Red Bull-Mercedes comes to fruition)
Team Principal: Franz Tost ; Technical Director: Giorgio Ascanelli
16. Sébastien Buemi (solid season with 6 points earns him another season)
17. Jaime Alguersuari (likely to stay on, but no contract signed, yet)
Brendon Hartley (Red Bull junior driver and tester)
Neel Jani (finally he gets his chance, but 2 Swiss drivers at STR?)

Campos Meta Team
Campos CM10 – Cosworth CA2010 (Dallara-designed and -built car)
Team Principal: Adrián Campos ; Technical Director: Daniel Audetto
18. Bruno Senna (gets his chance at new team, allegedly along with Petrobras money)
19. Vitaly Petrov (although Russian, he drove for Campos/Barwa in GP2 successfully, and brings sponsorship, too)
Pastor Maldonado (rumoured)
José Maria López (rumoured)
Pedro de la Rosa (experienced test driver; would need sponsorship for the drive)
Nelson Piquet (Adrián Campos said he's a possibility)
Marc Gené (rumoured earlier on)

Virgin Manor F1 Team (likely renamed Virgin F1 Team)
Manor BW01 (Virgin VF1-10) – Cosworth CA2010 (car designed and built by Nick Wirth, formerly of Simtek and Benetton)
Team Principal: John Booth (of Manor Grand Prix) / Alex Tai (of Virgin) ; Technical Director: Nick Wirth
20. Timo Glock (2-year deal with an option for a 3rd)
21. Lucas Di Grassi (GP2 race winner, did F3 for Manor in 2005)
Anthony Davidson (experienced ex-F1 driver)
Adam Carroll (GP2 race winner and A1GP champion, has been approached by 2 teams for ‘10)
Esteban Guerreri (has a priority pre-contract until 5 November)
Nelson Piquet (Booth allegedly stated he would consider him)

Best Buy Team US F1
US F1-10 – Cosworth CA2010 (contracted) / Toyota RVX-10 (rumoured)
Team Principal: Peter Windsor ; Technical Director: Ken Anderson
22. Jacques Villeneuve (says he's in talks with the team; getting a former F1 WDC and Indy 500 winner would be a major coup for the team)
23. Pedro de la Rosa (although Spanish, experienced test driver; excellent choice to develop the new car)
Franck Montagny (rumoured although French, has some experience)
Alex Wurz (although Austrian, experienced test driver; excellent choice to develop the new car; allegedly lost interest)
Jonathan Summerton (oft-rumoured, but still young)

1Malaysia Lotus F1 Team
Lotus 110 – Cosworth CA2010
Team Principal: Tony Fernandes ; Technical Director: Mike Gascoyne
24. Jarno Trulli (rumoured)
Anthony Davidson (experienced ex-F1 driver)
Alex Yoong (relatively experienced and, well, Malaysian; unlikely, though)
25. Takuma Sato (rumoured)
Kamui Kobayashi (rumoured)
Fairuz Fauzy (Malaysian, possibly signed as 3rd driver)
Jacques Villeneuve (allegedly in talks with the team)

Sauber Petronas F1 Team (BMW-owned team did not sign 2010-2012 Concorde Agreement, but obtained '14th place', gets 13th spot due to Toyota's leaving; Petronas said to stay on as title sponsor)
Sauber C25 – Ferrari 056 (again with Petronas badge?)
Team Principal: Lionel Fischer (of QADBAK) / Peter Sauber (unlikely) ; Technical Director: Willy Rampf
26. Nick Heidfeld (contracted for '09; may stay on)
27. Vitaly Petrov (successfully raced in GP2, and brings sponsorship)
Christian Klien (current test driver; could make for a typically sound Sauber line-up with Heidfeld)
Giancarlo Fisichella (Ferrari tester; comes with the engine deal)
Kamui Kobayashi (only mentioned on this forum, IIRC)

Glock @ Manor - provided they don't collapse - should shorten Franck Montagny's odds of signing a race drive with the French.

Btw, Lotus' Tony Fernandes said on the Beeb website that Lotus would use historical colours.

Me thinketh you need to keep up with the news: Glock joins Manor for 2010

If I understand the expression correctly, this could indeed be the case: Kubica and Montagny at 'Renault-Gordini F1 Team' in French racing blue.

I meant to write Manor. Sorry.

And that could be th end of Di Grassi.

Joe Saward has him at Virgin/Manor, alongside Glock, whom he predicted, too.

Quite a solid driver line up for a new team IMO.

Piquet talks about negotiating with Force India for a 2010 drive. Liuzzi is said to be safe @ Force India.
Should we expect Piquet and Liuzzi @ Force India ?

Thereforce, should we expect Sutil to be the surprise @ Mercedes ?
More realisticaly, would Sutil settle for a test/reserve driver role @ Mercedes ?

Di Grassi mentioned in an interview that he was just waiting his Renault option to expire, and then he would sign with Manor.
But now I'm not that sure about it.

So am i the only one who wants Anthony Davidson in car number 22 this year? if just to worry the brazilians? hehe

a 100 pages O_O

ok on a silly note, now that Glock is confirmed at Manor and not at Renault, can it be that Heikki has already signed for Renault and just hasn't announced it yet? Or could it be that McLaren has not allowed Heikki to make an announcement regarding his contract with Renault (i.e. if signed, or confirmed), could be as I think contracts end on Dec 31st.

Oh yes wold be good,but needs a Mercedes engine.

McLaren
1. Jenson Button
2. Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes
3. Nico Rosberg
4. Nick Heidfeld

Red Bull
5. Sebastian Vettel
6. Mark Webber

Ferrari
7. Felipe Massa
8. Fernando Alonso

Williams
9. Rubens Barrichello
10. Nico Hulkenberg

Renault
11. Robert Kubica
12. Heikki Kovalainen

Force India
14. Adrian Sutil
15. Karun Chandhok

Toro Rosso
16. Sebastien Buemi
17. Jaime Alguersuari

Campos
18. Bruno Senna
19. Vitaly Petrov

Virgin
20. Timo Glock
21. Anthony Davidson

Lotus
22. Jarno Trulli
23. Kamui Kobayashi

I guess, Kimi Raikkonen to hold out a year for a Red Bull seat.

No Sauber?

Or USf1..


Doubt it will be an all German Mercedes team...

I think Heikki might be still waiting around hoping he can get the McLaren seat.....

I don't think that Mercedes will get an all german linie up etiher. I think that Rosberg will be there, but I dont know who the other driver will be, I'm hoping it will be Raikkonen

And then... Where i Liuzzi? I really can't se why he should not get a seat. I was pretty god, espacally if you compare him to other who came in, in the mittle of the Season

I would like to see Davidson back, but I can not see it happen at Virgin Manor. If they right, when they say they want one expirensed driver, and a youngster, I dont see Davidson fit with Glock.

But apart from this few thing, a pretty good sugestion

BBC Radio Sheffield say Lucas di Grassi will partner Timo Glock at Manor Grand Prix.

West's colours are red and white (see Zakspeed, late 80s). Black-and-white was introduced later for the "light" cigarettes to capitalise on the sponsorship.

If I am not mistaken, the very first McLarens raced in black. That was even before the orange was adopted in 1968.

My prediction

Campos
V Petrov
B Senna

Ferrari
F Alonso
F Massa

Force India
V Liuzzi
N Piquet

Lotus
K Kobayashi
J Trulli

Manor
L di Grassi
T Glock

McLaren
J Button
L Hamilton

Mercedes
N Rosberg
A Sutil

Red Bull
S Vettel
M Webber

Renault
H Kovalainen
R Kubica

Sauber
N Heidfeld
C Klien

Toro Rosso
S Buemi
B Hartley

USF1
A Davidson
P de la Rosa

Williams
R Barrichello
N Hulkenberg

Black can be a very effective colour when used properly. I don't think a predominantly-black livery would be considered, but little bits here and there - the front and rear wings, a thin strip around the bottom of the car - could really make a car look mean. Black worked for the Arrows and Sauber cars.

What's this all about then eh?

http://twitter.com/jsummerton/status/5810000064

Jonathan Summerton and F1?

USF1 surely ?

Just had a gander at his website - at the top it says 'The Next American Formula One Champion'

Can't think of anywhere else. I though Peter Windsor and Co. weren't keen on his services - unless he's a reserve driver perhaps?

Must be surely, who else is going to take a punt on him

Well who knows what he's playing at?

http://twitter.com/jsummerton/status/5810625099

JV seems quite sure on his comeback. While training in Austria for his comeback he said following:

"Fortunately, Erwin has not yet submitted to training in a sauna, Villeneuve said, laughing. For the moment I am preparing for winter testing, so it will be cool. However, when preparing for Bahrain will start, I know I can not escape it! "

It is the turn of the talks and the direction in which the transfer market and signed contracts that encouraged Villeneuve to return to being tortured by Göllner.

"Do you really think I'd come here to suffer in private retreat, leaving my two guys off if I do not think it was running well? "

Well... if he want's to have any chance of making it to the grid in 2010 then he must get in shape ASAP. Probabilities high or low does not matter. If he himself wants and believes then he must get in shape. Running good bad doesn't come into it.

I guess you can take off Raikkonen from McLaren's list...

Now it's Button or Heidfeld partnering Hamilton or Rosberg. but looks like that's the 4.

Since Ron has never hired a German, my guess is LH/JB and NR/NH.

Lewis + Jenson Versus Rosberg Heidfeld Versus Massa + Alonso

Mercedes may wish to change their driver lineup much sooner than they expect,

Hm, looks like someone overrated himself and/or his bargaining position?

It's said not to see Kimi in F1 but Heidfeld might finally get a to drive a Mercedes. Hopefully along Lewis. I don't want that Germany-vs-England/UK/GB/whatever-thing. I can already see the media dealing with that ... where's the puke-smiley?!

Just think if we have silverstone ... Germany vs UK on English soil at an old WW2 raf airport. It just screams so very many bad "battle of britain" comments hey and guess what look at the grid ... more germans then brits.

Lordy lordy lordy its just going to be WAY too easy.

Jenson or Lewis wins and they play the Dambusters instead of the National Anthem

We need this race more than ever. Let's hope...

I kinda wish he didn't delete his previous tweets, a few hours ago he was thanking his family/sponsors from FAtlantic.

He'd been in negotiations with USF1, but apparently needed some sponsorship money to get the ride.

Hmmmmmmmmmm...

Nelson Piquet in talks with Force India

Link

Sorry if seen before

That would certainly qualify as the "big surprise" Haug was allegedly talking about. However I seriously doubt they want JV. His marketing value might be huge in the USA (and France) but he has been out of F1 for years...

Jock Clear at Brawn/Mercedes, Jacques old engineer, has spoken warmly about how the cars should suit JV. So I believe at least he would love to work with JV again. But it seems as a too big of a surprise really.

"too big of a suprise" ?? Really? the way this silly seasons going im half expecting to see Tom Cruise in a force india.

And I thought the 2010 Silly Season was going to take a long, long time... Now K.M. Räikkönen has announced to which team he will go in 2010: none. I wonder if his 'sabbatical' will last as long as one M.P. Häkkinen's...;)

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes (now effectively a Mercedes customer team)
McLaren MP4-25 – Mercedes FO108X
Team Principal: Martin Whitmarsh ; Technical Director: Paddy Lowe, Neil Oatley
1. Jenson Button (strongly rumoured)
Adrian Sutil (was mentioned a while ago, and with Räikkönen out of the equasion, he may be in the picture again)
Heikki Kovalainen ('10 option not taken up)
2. Lewis Hamilton (contracted until '12)

Mercedes Grand Prix (title sponsors Emirates, Orange and Mobil 1 mentioned)
Mercedes W2010 – Mercedes FO108X
Team Principal: Ross Brawn ; Technical Director: Ross Brawn (?)
3. Nico Rosberg (ever more likely due to Mercedes deal)
4. Nick Heidfeld (said to be in contention, should Button leave)
Jenson Button (negotiations for new contract ongoing, money said to be an issue)

Red Bull Racing
Red Bull RB6 – Renault RS27 (currently) / Cosworth CA2010 (remains an option) / Mercedes FO108X (ever more unlikely)
Team Principal: Christian Horner; Technical Director: Adrian Newey
5. Sebastian Vettel (on a multi-year deal until '11, with an option for '12)
6. Mark Webber (re-signed for '10)

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro (Santander title sponsor?)
Ferrari F2010 – Ferrari 056
Team Principal: Stefano Domenicali ; Technical Director: Aldo Costa
7. Felipe Massa (contracted until ‘10)
8. Fernando Alonso (3-year deal '10-'12)

AT&T Williams
Williams FW32 – Cosworth CA2010
Team Principal: Frank Williams ; Technical Director: Sam Michael, Patrick Head
9. Rubens Barrichello (confirmed)
10. Nico Hülkenberg (confirmed, probably on long-term deal)

Renault-Gordini F1 Team (possibly branded 'Renault-Gordini'; take-over by Prodrive and/or Charouz rumoured)
Renault-Gordini R30 – Renault R27
Team Principal: Bob Bell (interim); Technical Director: Bob Bell
11. Robert Kubica (confirmed for 2010)
12. Franck Montagny (former test driver, brings some experience to the team)
Adrian Sutil (rumoured)
Heikki Kovalainen (may return to the French team)
Lucas Di Grassi (long time Renault development and test driver)
Romain Grosjean (replaced Piquet mid-season; allegedly fallen out of favour due to bad results)

Force India F1 Team
Force India VJM03 – Mercedes FO108X
Team Principal: Vijay Mallya ; Technical Director: James Key
14. Adrian Sutil ('10 option taken up by the team, but free to go to bigger team, e.g. McLaren)
Nelson Piquet (could be an option if Sutil leaves)
Karun Chandhok (after another GP2 season, he gets the nod from Mallya; will test McLaren simulator)
Neel Jani (Swiss with Indian father, will test McLaren simulator)
15. Vitantonio Liuzzi (has '10-'11 deal)

Scuderia Toro Rosso
Toro Roso STR5 – Ferrari 056 (Ferrari contract allegedly runs until ‘10) / Renault R27 (if Red Bull-Mercedes comes to fruition)
Team Principal: Franz Tost ; Technical Director: Giorgio Ascanelli
16. Sébastien Buemi (solid season with 6 points earns him another season)
17. Jaime Alguersuari (likely to stay on, but no contract signed, yet)
Brendon Hartley (Red Bull junior driver and tester)
Neel Jani (finally he gets his chance, but 2 Swiss drivers at STR?)

Campos Meta Team
Campos CM10 – Cosworth CA2010 (Dallara-designed and -built car)
Team Principal: Adrián Campos ; Technical Director: Daniel Audetto
18. Bruno Senna (gets his chance at new team, allegedly along with Petrobras money)
19. Vitaly Petrov (although Russian, he drove for Campos/Barwa in GP2 successfully, and brings sponsorship, too)
Pastor Maldonado (rumoured; brings sponsorship)
José Maria López (rumoured)
Pedro de la Rosa (experienced test driver; would need sponsorship for the drive)
Nelson Piquet (Adrián Campos said he's a possibility)

Virgin Manor F1 Team (likely renamed Virgin F1 Team)
Manor BW01 (Virgin VF1-10) – Cosworth CA2010 (car designed and built by Nick Wirth, formerly of Simtek and Benetton)
Team Principal: John Booth (of Manor Grand Prix) / Alex Tai (of Virgin) ; Technical Director: Nick Wirth
20. Timo Glock (2-year deal with an option for a 3rd)
21. Lucas Di Grassi (GP2 race winner and long-time Renault junior driver, did F3 for Manor in 2005)
Anthony Davidson (experienced ex-F1 driver)
Adam Carroll (GP2 race winner and A1GP champion, has been approached by 2 teams for ‘10)
Esteban Guerreri (has a priority pre-contract until 5 November)
Nelson Piquet (Booth allegedly stated he would consider him)

Best Buy Team US F1
US F1-10 – Cosworth CA2010 (contracted) / Toyota RVX-10 (rumoured)
Team Principal: Peter Windsor ; Technical Director: Ken Anderson
22. Jacques Villeneuve (says he's in talks with the team; getting a former F1 WDC and Indy 500 winner would be a major coup for the team)
23. Pedro de la Rosa (although Spanish, experienced test driver; excellent choice to develop the new car)
Franck Montagny (rumoured although French, has some experience)
Alex Wurz (although Austrian, experienced test driver; excellent choice to develop the new car; allegedly lost interest)
Jonathan Summerton (oft-rumoured, but still young)

1Malaysia Lotus F1 Team
Lotus 110 – Cosworth CA2010
Team Principal: Tony Fernandes ; Technical Director: Mike Gascoyne
24. Jarno Trulli (rumoured)
Anthony Davidson (experienced ex-F1 driver)
Alex Yoong (relatively experienced and, well, Malaysian; unlikely, though)
25. Takuma Sato (rumoured)
Kamui Kobayashi (rumoured)
Fairuz Fauzy (Malaysian, possibly signed as 3rd driver)
Jacques Villeneuve (allegedly in talks with the team)

Sauber Petronas F1 Team (BMW-owned team did not sign 2010-2012 Concorde Agreement, but obtained '14th place', gets 13th spot due to Toyota's leaving; Petronas said to stay on as title sponsor)
Sauber C25 – Ferrari 056 (again with Petronas badge?)
Team Principal: Lionel Fischer (of QADBAK) / Peter Sauber (unlikely) ; Technical Director: Willy Rampf
26. Christian Klien (current test driver; could make for a typically sound Sauber line-up with Heidfeld)
Nick Heidfeld (contracted for '09; may stay on)
27. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ferrari tester; comes with the engine deal)
Vitaly Petrov (successfully raced in GP2, and brings sponsorship)
Kamui Kobayashi (only mentioned on this forum, IIRC)

This is what I expect to happen. What do you think ?

Mercedes - Mercedes
Button & Rosberg

Red Bull - Renault
Vettel & Webber

McLaren - Mercedes
Hamilton & Heidfeld

Ferrari - Ferrari
Massa & Alonso

Williams - Cosworth
Barrichello & Hulkenberg

Sauber Qadbak - Ferrari
Fisichella & Klien

Renault - Renault
Kubica & Kovalainen

Force India - Mercedes
Sutil & Liuzzi

STR - Ferrari
Buemi & Alguersuari

Campos Meta - Cosworth
de la Rosa & Senna

USF1 - Cosworth
Villeneuve & Bourdais

Virgin - Cosworth
Glock & di Grassi

Lotus - Cosworth
Trulli & Kobayashi

Currently, my personal view on the matter is as follows:

Mercedes: Button, Rosberg
Red Bull–Renault: Webber, Vettel
McLaren–Mercedes: Hamilton, Sutil
Ferrari: Massa, Alonso
Williams–Cosworth: Barrichello, Hülkenberg
Renault: Kubica, Montagny
Force India–Mercedes: Liuzzi, Piquet
Toro Rosso–Ferrari: Buemi, Alguersuari
Campos–Cosworth: Senna, Petrov
Virgin/Manor–Cosworth: Glock, Di Grassi
Team US F1–Cosworth: Villeneuve, Davidson
Lotus–Cosworth: Trulli, Sato
Sauber–Ferrari: Heidfeld, Fisichella

God, not Sutil ...

Sorry, one of the voices in my head told me this morning, after reading the news on Räikkönen. It could be the same voice Ross Brawn heard.

largely agree for the larger teams. I think Grojean is at least better than di Grassi, but I guess he doesn't have sponsorship.....

These are the only ones I disagree with: Pedro de la Rosa has fallen by the wayside at Campos; Adrian Campos has said that he's a possibility, but he's going to have to front some serious sponsorship currency because as it stands, Petrov and Maldonado have the weight of national oil companies Gazprom and PDVSA to throw around.

As for USF1, there's been nothing to suggest Bourdais has even been in contention for the seat.

I would place Petrov at Renault (instead of Kovalainen), Sato at Lotus (instead of Kobayashi), Maldonado at Campos (instead of de la Rosa), Jani at Sauber (instead of Fisichella) and José-Maria Lopez and Jonnathan Summerton at USF1