Formula 1: The Silly Season Gets Under Way

2008 World Champion, Lewis Hamilton

Barely a week goes by in Formula One without there being another news story relying speculation of a possible driver/team move - Hamilton to Mercedes, Webber to Ferrari and so on. With so much chatter surrounding these high profile names, how much truth is there to F1's self-proclaimed "silly season". With so many drivers supposedly up for grabs next season, who will land where when the wheel of fortune stops spinning?

How much longer will Massa reside
 in the stable of the Prancing Horse?

In my opinion, the epicentre of this year's driver market is Brazil's Felipe Massa. Massa has been hugely disappointing for the Scuderia since his return from injury in 2010 and has grossly failed to match Fernando Alonso. The chances of Massa being retained by Maranello in 2013 is, quite frankly, slim to say the least. 

Which of course, leaves a huge gaping hole in the ranks of our sport's most successful team. Where can Ferrari go for a replacement? Well first off, and the driver most widely tipped to fill the void is Australia's Mark Webber. Webber has been taking his season's one at a time at Red Bull Racing and has made it clear in the past he aims to end his career at the Milton Keynes based squad. 

But surely a contract from Ferrari would tempt him away? How could anyone refuse? In what would most likely be another one year contract, Mark would no doubt slot effortlessly into the role of second-driver to genuine friend, Fernando Alonso. It's a move that makes sense and would feel natural, in my eyes. What's more is, he deserves it. 

Whilst Sergio Perez looked the favourite for the seat at Ferrari back in March, it is thought that Ferrari are looking to keep him at Sauber for at least another season to gain experience. Don't rule him out however; another eye-catching drive like we saw in Sepang and Montreal would put him back in the picture for Massa's seat. He has been mightly impressive in comparison to the highly regarded Kobayashi.

Is Schumacher outstaying his welcome at the
Silver Arrows?

Meanwhile, over at Mercedes, the team bosses there are undoubtedly stressing over their 2013 driver line-up. With Michael Schumacher out of contract at the end of the year, the Silver Arrows have some thinking to do; do they keep on the seven-time World Champ and hope he rediscovers his form or do they opt for a more up and coming talent like, say, Paul di Resta or even Nico Hulkenberg?

Rosberg is locked in as thier 'lead' driver for the forseeable future so they have that seat filled. But 5 DNF's in 7 races for Schumacher is disastrous. Would he really want to extend his contract with Mercedes? He's not exactly getting younger and hasn't had the desired success in his comeback.

Finally, the biggest question mark hangs over the future of 2008 World Champion, Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton has rediscovered strong form so far this season and is one of the favourite's to win the title, but reliability issues, pitstop mishaps and silly blunders by his Mclaren team are costing him dear. So the question is, were would he go if, and it is a big if, he were to leave Mclaren. Well, there are a multitude of options open to Hamilton right now. We could see him replace Schumacher at Mercedes, Webber at Red Bull (if the Australian were to retire or move to Ferrari) or even replace Massa at Ferrari.

Whether any of these options will ever come to fruition, it is too soon to say. I think it would be unlikely that Hamilton would move to either Red Bull or Ferrari, teams that have such clearly defined lead drivers already in Vettel and Alonso respectively.  For Hamilton to thrive in a team, he needs one he can mould around himself in the same way Vettel and Alonso have done. For that to happen, I can only see him staying put at Mclaren. The faults and fumbles might cost him now, but in the long run, sticking at Mclaren and building a network of people around him is his best option. His recent win in Montreal also shows he still has the ability to win at Mclaren. Also, with Button's form plummeting of late, staying put at Mclaren and becoming a clear and defined leader would benefit Lewis to no end. 

Lewis Hamilton's future is wide open
Mclaren, Red Bull, Ferrari or Mercedes?

Other teams like Lotus seem to have a fairly stable future ahead of them driver-wise. Raikkonen and Grosjean are a talented pairing and one that will grow and improve as time goes on. Will we see the injured Robert Kubica ever step back in at the Enstone team? I doubt it. Will he ever race an F1 car again? I doubt that also. The more time passes, the more unlikely it is we will ever see the talented Pole back in the sport.

With so many options open at the "big four", who knows where everyone will land when the music stops? Karthikeyan to Ferrari? Stranger things have happened. Well, not really...

Let me know in the comments box what you think! Who'll be where in 2013?