Looking ahead to 2013 - the Drivers line-up?

Well 2012 may well only be 1 month and 16 days old, but teams will already be thinking about driver line-ups for next year including test and reserve drivers too.

Ferrari have already confirmed their test and reserve driver and will be looking for a driver now to go alongside Fernando Alonso for the 2013 season. Here is a list of who is confirmed and which drivers are not!



Caterham F1 Team CaterhamRenaultP

TBA

TBA

TBA



Scuderia Ferrari FerrariFerrariP

Fernando Alonso

TBA

Davide Rigon



Sahara Force India F1 Team Force IndiaMercedesP

TBA

TBA

TBA



HRT F1 Team HRTCosworthP

Pedro de la Rosa

TBA

TBA



Lotus F1 Team LotusRenaultP

Kimi Räikkönen

TBA

TBA





Marussia F1 Team MarussiaCosworthP

Timo Glock

TBA

TBA



Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLarenMercedesP

Jenson Button

TBA

TBA



Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team MercedesMercedesP

Nico Rosberg

TBA

TBA



Red Bull Racing Red BullRenaultP

Sebastian Vettel

TBA

TBA



Sauber F1 Team SauberFerrariP

TBA

TBA

TBA



Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro RossoFerrariP

TBA

TBA

TBA



Williams F1 Williams Renault P

TBA

TBA

TBA



Right so those are who are confirmed so far. But where will the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez end up?

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To be honest I think that for a lot of drivers (both veterans and rookies) it depends on how well they do this season, so I don't think you can say it this early.
Take Perèz for example: if he does well he could be promoted to a race seat alongside Ferrari - but what if Massa suddenly regains his form? Or what if Perèz doesn't quite live up to their expectations? Then Massa will probably stay for atleast another season.
Same thing with Webber: if Ricciardo or Vergné do really well then he could well be out of Red Bull and one of them could be promoted. Mark could quit or he could go drive for a lower team. But who will be promoted? And what if Vergné and Ricciardo are both not good enough? Will Mark stay of will Buemi get the drive?
Then there's also Schumacher: will he be better than last year or is there no progression? He could possibly retire again depending on his form. Then who will take his seat? There are a number of rookies who could all be in with a shout depending on their season.
And then there's Hamilton. What will he do if Mclaren have got it all wrong, and they have to play catch up again? What if he has another season full of frustration and problems? Will he stay at Mclaren, will he move to Red Bull? Or will he perhaps take a sabbatical or quit F1?

There are still too many questions at this point which makes guessing who will end up where an impossible task at the moment imo.

Buemi will be back....for Afro F1!

Coach is already a year ahead of everyone! 2013 was looking like the silly season of 2009, but a lot of unexpected moves happened this year...so who knows!

Will Schumacher retire? Will Massa and Webber get replaced? Will Rosberg finally move to a top team? Will Ricciardo and Vergne live up to expectations? Will Hamilton move? Kobayashi and Perez going to stay with Sauber for the rest of their lives?

HRT will definitely have a some sort of driver change.

I would say Red Bull is an unknown for next year though Vettel will definitely stay.
Button's a sure thing with McLaren and I also believe Hamilton will stay. The most unsettling thing for Lewis would be if they provide him with a competitive car and Jensen proves to be the stronger of the two. Not sure how he'd cope with that and not sure which team would find a place for him.
With Ferrari, if Massa has a strong season and proves to be the perfect backup to Alonso why would they drop him. If he's not strong there are only two drivers they would consider in my opinion, Kubica subject to fitness or Webber. I doubt Kubica will return to F1 so I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Webber finish his career at Ferrari.

Unfortunately, the way things are going, most of the drivers in 2013 will be of the "pay" variety. Just one more reason to hope that the world economy improves dramatically by then!

I thought i'd revive this thread again to ask this question.

With all thats gone on between Hamilton and Mclaren, would it be best for both parties to split for the 2013 season?

Hmmmmm..... where could he go?
Either way, this is going to be one heck of a silly season.

Sure? What about Di Resta? I thought he was being groomed for that seat. Or maybe Schumi will hang n for another year - assuming Rosberg will stay at Mercedes.

Toro Rosso.

Mercedes have the resources to match Hamilton's needs and Paul Di Resta may find himself at Ferrari or Mclaren. Hamilton is the big player in the driver shake up for 2013.

Can't see Mercedes offering Schumacher another contract as a driver, more of a talent scout contract.

Raikkonen and Hamilton could swap places since Whitmarsh is keen on the iceman.

However, would going to mclaren be a good move for anyone?

Slyboogy

I think Paul Di Resta would be a perfect fit at Mclaren with Jenson Button. He has the protential to be a future world champion and i can think of no-one better than Button to learn off if your Paul Di Resta. At the moment Mclarens problem seems is that their don't know which driver to support, if their support Button too much then Hamilton will get jealous and vice-versa. For me i think the time has come for Mclaren and Lewis to split, both are clearly not working well together and a fresh start at a different team may suit Lewis to a Tee.

In all honesty I think with all the cock-ups McLaren have made he should leave the team. However based on a lack of viable options (only Red Bull have really cemented themselves as championship worthy, Mercedes may have the resources but even this season they will soon lose the DDRS advantage, Ferrari is no longer the development powerhouse it used to be) I don't think he should. Not to mention he would have to contend with Rosberg, Alonso and Vettel, no mean feat.

Hamilton to HRT Mercedes Nascar

Hamilton to Williams? Would be interesting

I believe Hamilton will weigh up two things, the number of 000 on his contract and the likelyhood of a race winning car (in either order). I believe that given all the options available right now, McLaren are still his best bet with Merc a close second. I don't expect he will move for the time being but if he resigns this year it will be on a mcuh shorter contract.

I always thought that Di Resta was Mercs man in waiting for Schueys seat but you never know if the old man will sign on again.

I just can't see Webber at Ferrari, that would do neither any good. Perez is only a seat fitting away from being Alonso's next team mate. Massa could go the other way and see his days out in a Sauber. He could do a lot worse and there won't be too many options for him.