Formula 1 - The silly season

It's usually around this time of year, about halfway through the F1 calendar, that the silly season begins. It's a time of guesswork and prediction, speculation and rumour. Which driver will be driving for which team next year? Who will be moving up the order, who will be moving down? Which rising star will get their first race seat and which driver has decided enough is enough, time to move on and retire from the pinnacle of motorsport?

That last question can easily be answered but it's an answer which throws up many more questions. Australian, Mark Webber, currently team mate to Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull Racing, will hang up his horns at the end of this season. There are two drivers waiting in the wings at Toro Rosso, the RBR junior team, ready to jump into his race seat. I believe both Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne are part of the young driver programme and joining the big boys would be a natural progression. But the natural choice isn't always the best choice as Kimi Raikkonen's contract with Lotus expires soon. Could he be the next Red Bull driver? Kimi will have to decide whether he wants to re-sign with the team that brought him back into Formula 1 or make a move to fill Webber's vacant seat.

Personally, I think that Raikkonen should stay at Lotus as it's a team that are gradually improving, year on year, and that as successful as RBR have been over the last four years, it's a success that won't be easy to maintain. Kimi could find himself being passed on track by his current team if he jumps ship too soon. History has shown that F1 teams tend to evolve in cycles, a few years of growth and winning followed by a few more declining and fighting to claw their way back to the top.

It's at this stage that teams like Williams and McLaren now find themselves. Williams have failed to score a single point so far this season, an unprecedented position for this multi championship winning team and McLaren, celebrating 50 years in F1 later this year, haven't had a driver anywhere near the podium. It's this information which leads me to believe that Kimi Raikkonen should stay with a team that are on the upswing rather then joining an already waning Red Bull. Although they are still leading both championships it's not anything like the domination they showed in previous years.

That still leaves the question unanswered and is likely to remain that way until a driver or team confirms it's intent for the following year. Until then, enjoy the silly season.