Rosberg, Ricciardo on move?

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RUMOURS are swirling around the 2017 Formula One driver market ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. Seats at Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari and Mclaren are potentially up for grabs as some of the sport’s biggest names come to the end of their current contracts.

Much has been made of championship leader Nico Rosberg not yet signing an extension to his current Mercedes deal, which runs out at the end of the year.

The German has been linked to a seat at Ferrari, where Kimi Raikkonen is widely expected to retire at the end of the season.

However, Rosberg played down these suggestions in Monaco, saying: “That’s not something I’ve been thinking about or is even at the top of my mind. I am happy at Mercedes and Mercedes is pleased with me, so I’m sure I’ll be here for many years.”

Max Verstappen was previously linked with a Ferrari seat, but his recent move from Toro Rosso to Red Bull means he’s more likely to stay with the drinks brand’s team.

Instead, Verstappen’s team-mate Daniel Ricciardo is now in the spotlight, having seemingly lost patience with the squad after missing out on two likely grand prix wins in a row in Spain and Monaco.

The Australian was extremely downcast on the podium in Monaco, having been passed by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton when the team failed to have the correct tyres ready for his scheduled pitstop.

“Two weekends in a row now I have been screwed,” he told the media. “I was called in the pits; I didn’t make the call. They should have been ready. It hurts; I don’t have anything else to say.”

Red Bull boss Christian Horner said afterwards: “As a team we win together and we lose together, so all we can do is apologise to Daniel that we haven’t given him a good enough service, having done a great job to get pole position.”

At Mclaren, team boss Eric Boullier has indicated that there’ll be no decision on Jenson Button’s future until later in the year. “It’s too early in the season and it would be too distracting for the team,” he told the media in Monaco.

It’s expected that the squad will promote test and reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne, who took the place of an injured Fernando Alonso at Bahrain this year, scoring points in the process.

Sport F1 rumrumour mill goes into overdrive ahead of Canadian GP