Race for 2017 F1 seats hots up
Raikkonen key to driver market Rosberg to stay with Mercedes?
ALTHOUGH there are still 12 Formula One races left to run in 2016, attention in some corners of the paddock is already focused on next season, with some big names expected to either switch teams or retire, prompting a driver reshuffle.
Former world champions Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button could both be absent from the 2017 grid, with Raikkonen under pressure from Ferrari (see Page 127) and Button expected to make way for young Belgian charger Stoffel Vandoorne at Mclaren.
Ferrari is believed to be considering numerous drivers to replace Raikkonen, including Force India’s Sergio Perez, who’s on a high at the moment after finishing on the podium in both the Monaco and Azerbaijan races.
The Mexican said: “I think always when you do well in a race in F1, you’re straight away linked to Ferrari. As a racing driver, it makes me feel proud, especially with how my career has been in the past years, to finally realise that I’m back there again.
“Although they are only rumours for the moment, I know that I’m doing a good job, performing well and working well.”
Another name potentially on Ferrari’s radar is Frenchman Romain Grosjean, who it’s thought moved to the Haas team over the winter with one eye on the US outfit’s close technical partnership with Ferrari.
The Italian team was also believed to be talking to Carlos Sainz Jr about a drive, but the Spaniard confirmed a new deal with Toro Rosso at the Austrian Grand Prix, securing his place there for a third year.
For Jenson Button, leaving Mclaren could mark the end of his 17-year F1 career, but the 36-year-old former champion could yet be thrown a lifeline by Williams. Of the British team’s current drivers, Felipe Massa is out of contract at the end of the year and not expected to be kept, while Finn Valtteri Bottas is yet another name being mentioned as a replacement for Raikkonen at Ferrari.
Elsewhere, speculation that Nico Rosberg could move on from the all-conquering Mercedes team was recently damped down by Niki Lauda, who said: “We’ve pretty much agreed on a new two-year contract, we just have to work on the finer details.”