Formula 1 Drivers in 2017 – Who’s Going Where?
It’s that time of year when everyone starts questioning the driver line-ups for the year ahead and it seems like there’s going to be changes for Formula 1 Drivers in 2017.
Here’s what we know and what’s been confirmed so far – Formula 1 Drivers In 2017
Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg
Even though we keep hearing from the team boss that everything is going well with ‘discussions coming to a positive end soon’ however, Rosberg is still to sign a contract for next year leaving him in a rather vulnerable position.
Could this be a ‘delay’ on Mercedes’s side, allowing Hamilton to catch-up to his teammate in the championship and keeping things exciting for the end of the season? Nico Rosberg has hit back saying that his lack of contract ‘doesn’t make me anymore vulnerable’ but we’ll have to wait and see how everything works out.
Toto Wolff spoke at the Silverstone saying the following – “We are in discussions with Nico and hopefully these discussions will come to a positive end soon, I have no doubt that this will be the line-up next year but you can never say 100% because you don’t know what happens tomorrow.“
Lewis Hamilton on the other hand signed his contract last year (Hamilton took a while to agree and sign his contract) and he still has two and half seasons signed to Mercedes but there has been a rumour going round that Ferrari kept Raikkonen to keep ‘the peace’ within the team and are waiting for the world champions contract with Mercedes to run it’s course.
RedBull Racing – Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen
Daniel Ricciardo has recently extended his contract with the RedBull Racing team until 2018 with his team-mate signed to the team until 2019.
This means that these two will be the RedBull drivers lineup for the next two years or so…. unless we see another Kvyat problem…
Ferrari – Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen
A couple of weeks ago in Silverstone we had the surprise announcement from Ferrari that Kimi Raikkonen had extended his contract. You can see more in this post here.
Sebastian Vettel is currently under contract with Ferrari until the end of next season however he’s the one which might have had an input into who will be his team-mate next year, saying that he gets on well with Kimi and there’s a ‘mutual respect’ between them.
Force India – Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez
Everything seemed to get announced at Silverstone and even though it hasn’t been ‘officially’ confirmed, the team owner Vijay Mallya said – “both are signed for 2017, this time we signed both for 2017 well in advance.”
So even though it’s not ‘official’ – the team owner has said what’s happening.
Toro Rosso – Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat?
We know that Carlos Sainz has re-signed / extended his contract with the Toro Rosso team, it was featured on here and you can see more details in this post here.
One thing which hasn’t been confirmed (yet) is the second driver at Toro Rosso – will it be Kvyat who was switched with Max Verstappen earlier this year or could it be Piere Gasly who tested for the team at Silverstone?
Still the be confirmed….
Williams – Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa?
As things stand, a lot of people are questioning whether Felipe Massa will remain at the Williams team – or even in Formula 1. His performance this year hasn’t been the greatest but the same can also be said for Bottas.
The two have dropped and it seems like they’re now playing catch-up opposed to last-year when they were much, much closer to the top teams – even challenging them.
Deputy team principle Claire Williams has said the following – “We are talking to them and we are having other conversations with other drivers in the paddock to see what opportunities there are.”
With widespread rumours suggesting that Jenson Button will be making a switch from McLaren and going back to the Williams team.
Could it be Button and Bottas for the 2017 Williams team?
McLaren – Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button?
After Williams, we move onto McLaren!
Fernando Alonso is currently under contract for the next season with the McLaren team and even though there’s a lot of frustration, there’s rumours suggesting that the team is already paying more attention to the development of their 2017 car with the new rules and regulations.
With the added rumours about Button and the potential switch to the Williams team, things are open for Vandoorne who has said it’s ‘now or never’ for him in Formula 1 next year – he came over from Japan to test the car in Silverstone along with Alonso.
Haas F1 Team – Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez?
Starting off the year on a high, things didn’t last long for the new F1 team and reports are being suggested that there another team who are putting in more time into the development of their 2017 car.
Grosjean looks like a driver who’s set to stay at the team despite frustration from his side which can sometimes be heard on the team radio.
The same cannot be said for his team-mate Gutiterrez who’s still to score any points this season….
Renault – Jolyon Palmer and Kevin Ericsson?
It hasn’t been a great year for the Renault team but they’re putting in a lot of time and development into their 2017 car also due to the new regulations which will be discussed soon.
Kevin Magnussen is a driver who will be remaining with the team for 2017 but the same can’t be said for Jolyon Palmer even though he’s been consistent and keeping up with his team-mate.
If the team do decided to switch driver, it looks like Esteban Ocon will replace Palmer in the driver lineup.
Sauber F1 Team – Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson
Sauber is a team which has had a lot of bad luck this year, they’ve had tough talks over the financial stability of the company however it looks like things will be taking a turn.
They’re currently waiting to see about the new ownership status which will be finalised in the coming weeks so hopefully there’ll be a good result there and the team can look ahead to 2017.
Marcus Ericsson looks like he will be remaining with the team for 2017 however there’s still a question mark for Felipe Nasr – he will more than likely remain with the team, if he brings in sponsorship and a budget for the team.
Manor – Pascale Wehrlein and Rio Haryanto?
Things are relatively quiet for Manor, it looks like both drivers ave a question mark above their head – Pascal Wehlrein is ‘on loan’ to the Manor team from Mercedes, what they plan to do is still to be confirmed…. will he remain or will he be moved?
Rio Haryanto is another driver with potential however there’s a rumour about his sponsorship deal drying up….
Manor is a team which is currently developing and constantly improving so it could be a good option for the two to remain, learn and grow until other spaces become available in different teams.
So, there we have the confirmed drivers along with a few rumours which are being thrown into the mix.
Lots more coming soon!
The Formula 1 Girl 🙂
xxx