Another spin on the merry-go-round

After the announcement that Michael Schumacher would return to Formula1 (for real this time! really!) at MercedesGP, many of the F1 pundits and commentators said that all the other pieces for the 2010 season would fall into place and the rest of the drivers’ contracts would soon be settled and announced.  It’s the new year, Schumacher has returned, but there are still six open seats left on the grid.

Granted, six seats out of twenty-six is not the largest percentage, but it still leaves nearly one quarter of the seats for 2010 open, with less than a month until the first testing session and about two months to the first race of the season.  Sauber, Renault, Toro Rosso, and Campos each have one driver’s contract to announce, while USF1 has yet to name either driver for this season.

As a reminder, the following are those driver’s contracts announced so far for 2010.  MercedesGP (formerly BrawnGP): Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg; Red Bull: Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber; McLaren: Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton; Ferrari: Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa; Sauber (formerly BMW-Sauber): Kamui Kobayashi, ??; Williams: Rubens Barrichello, Nico Hulkenberg; Renault: Robert Kubica, ??; Force India: Adrian Sutil, Vitantonio Liuzzi; Toro Rosso: Sebastien Buemi, ??; Campos Meta: Bruno Senna, ??; USF1: ??, ??; LotusF1: Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen; Virgin Racing: Timo Glock, Lucas di Grassi.  While many, including Jaime Alguersuari himself publicly, assume that the young Spaniard will soon be announced as the second Toro Rosso driver, the team has been suspiciously silent on the subject.

While it is highly likely that all of these open seats have a driver (or two or perhaps three) in negotiations, it feels as though various teams are leaving the final driver choice a bit late.  True, a month in F1 terms can be like a year, but it can also turn into five minutes very easily.  I suppose this all goes back to my oft-mentioned rant about F1 and the general tone of public relations therein.

While F1 has never been institutionally particularly fan-friendly, it seems as though the time for filling of extra column inches (right now, aren’t you dying to hear something as exciting as a driver contract announcement?) is rapidly running out.  February will be filled with talk of testing and car launches and counting down to the season.  For extra publicity that might just draw in extra sponsors, it is time now to finalize driver’s contracts and get them announced.

Have a recalcitrant driver or manager?  Fine, Jacques Villeneuve would love to have this contract.  So would Ralf Schumacher, for that matter.  Have a possible rookie driver?  Get them in the simulator now, rather than later.  There will not be testing during the season for them to improve.  It is time to finalize plans for the season and really get started.  2010 is here, and so nearly is the Formula1 season.