Daniele Morelli, Robert Kubica’s manager, was a very busy man at Monza, rushing around the paddock, trying to sort out a drive for the rising Polish star. Kubica seems to be keen to move to Williams, which he sees as being a team that knows how to win. The problem is that Renault F1 wanted Kubica to replace Fernando Alonso as there are no other star names available and was blocking the Williams engine deal if the team signed Robert. The word at Monza was that if Kubica does not join Williams the job will go instead to Rubens Barrichello, who will swap drives with Nico Rosberg, who is the choice of Mercedes-Benz for Brawn.
The German was going to go to McLaren but it seems that Mercedes now think he would be better off with Jenson Button at Brawn GP. The second Williams seat will almost certainly go to new boy Nico Hulkenberg, who has now wrapped up the GP2 title with his win at Monza. The victory follows titles in Formula BMW in 2005, A1GP in 2006-2007 and in the Formula 3 Eurocup in 2008. He is the first driver since Lewis Hamilton to win the GP2 titles in his first season. With the team expected to have different engines next season, Kazuki Nakajima’s F1 future is far from clear although Jarno Trulli does not currently have a contract with Toyota for 2010. Replacing Jarno with Kazuki would be a major leap of faith on the part of Toyota but the team has a history making bizarre driver choices so nothing is impossible.
The second McLaren seat could be retained by Heikki Kovalainen, but he has not really done enough to warrant the role and there is speculation that Kimi Raikkonen might return to Woking if he is dropped by Ferrari.
Ahh, I always wondered why Mercedes Benz is interested in buying a controlling stake in Brawn GP, given their success with McLaren in the past. But now it is clear, they want a successful German driver in a Mercedes powered car.
Well not only successful, but having the chance to win the word title.
At McLaren, as long as Hamilton is there, this is just not possible, because
a) Hamilton is an exceptional driver and
b) McLaren will always favor him over any other driver.
Given HAM’s age, 24 I think, he could stay there another 10 years, which Mercedes would have to wait to have a German WC, And right now, there are quite a few talented German drivers around, maybe not exceptionally talented, but good enough to win a Championcip given the right car (and engine).
Maybe Liuzzi would fit nicely in the second McLaren?
[...] Movements on the driver market – Joe Saward’s Grand Prix Blog Silly season shenanigans. (tags: SillySeason drivers robertkubica williams renault Brawn nicorosberg NicoHülkenberg mclaren Mercedes Toyota KazukiNakajima JarnoTrulli) [...]