F1 musical chairs: where will they be next year?

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso are both expected to be racing for new F1 teams in 2015.

    As the F1 season draws to a close at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend, the action off the track is just getting started with most of the major teams bringing in new talent ahead of next season.

    – Caterham team will race at F1 season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

    The major changes come as teams attempt to close the gap on the high-flying Mercedes machines.

    The most high profile of the confirmed moves so far is that of Fernando Alonso away from the famous red of Ferrari.

    The Spaniard is being lined up to become McLaren’s new front man and will be charged with the task of achieving results above and beyond what the car will probably be capable of in 2015.

    Alonso terminated his contract two years prematurely after clearly growing impatient of Ferrari’s political in-fighting at board level and McLaren appears the right challenge for him at his age.

    However it remains to be seen whether Alonso will be able to work with McLaren team principal Ron Dennis, with whom he famously fell out in 2007 in his first stint for the UK-based team.

    This move has set in motion the musical chairs between drivers and constructors with Jenson Button quickly realising that he may well be on borrowed time at McLaren.

    It is yet to be seen whether Button will change teams or retire from the sport completely following a barren run of form that has seen the 2009 F1 world champion claim just one podium finish this season.

    It has been rumoured that Alonso would prefer Button to be his teammate next year because the Briton’s extra experience would help propel the team towards the front of the grid on a more consistent basis.

    However McLaren may opt for the more economical option of partnering Button’s less-experienced Danish teammate Kevin Magnussen with Alonso instead.

    With Ferrari suffering a lack of direction since the golden Schumacher era, motorsports’ most famous brand have been heavily linked with a big-money move for Sebastian Vettel in order to return to the top.

    Some uncomfirmed reports have suggested Ferrari put forward a contract worth around US$80 million a season for three years in order to secure the four-time F1 world champion’s services, with speculation increasing in light of Red Bull's announcement after the Japanese Grand Prix that the German driver would be leaving at the end of the 2014 season.

    After four fruitful years of dominance under Christian Horner at Red Bull, Vettel has struggled to compete with the Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg this year – with questions raised over whether he had become too comfortable. The opportunity to race in red may be just what Vettel needs to re-energise his career and at 26 years old, he is still young enough to hit the top again. 

    Hamilton provided an excellent blueprint for Vettel; having been heavily criticised for leaving F1 heavyweights McLaren in order to join comparative minnows Mercedes, he is now on the brink of a second world title. 

    With Vettel’s move all but confirmed, a spot in the Red Bull team looks up for grabs and, remarkably, it has been mooted that Nico Rosberg could leave the Mercedes stable where he has achieved so much.

    In the fickle and egotistical world of F1 nobody wants to be treated like a second-place driver, which is exactly what would happen to Rosberg should the blond German lose to Hamilton in Abu Dhabi. If Hamilton were to go on and win their showdown on the final day of the season, Mercedes would have no option but to show preference to the Brit and, consequently, Rosberg would be forced to live in his shadow.

    At Red Bull, Rosberg may not be driving such a finely-tuned car as the Mercedes, but he would be joining a well-run team with a strong partner in Daniel Ricciardo and a track record of success.

    Should Rosberg move away from Mercedes, it would leave a dream spot with constructors champions Mercedes.

    With Vettel seemingly on his way to Ferrari and Alonso all set for a McLaren switch, the German team may opt for Rosberg’s countryman Nico Hulkenberg, in what would be quite the promotion. The Force India driver is still relatively young at 26 and many believe it is his time for a shot with one of the larger F1 teams. It would certinaly be a popular move with German fans at home.

    It is always a dangerous game to make too many predictions in a sport as unpredictable as F1, but one guarantee is that Mercedes will be looking cautiously over their shoulders next season.

    POTENTIAL DRIVER LINE-UPS

    Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg

    Red Bull: Nico Rosberg and Daniel Ricciardo

    McLaren: Fernando Alonso and Kevin Magnussen

    Ferrari: Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen

    Recommended