Who Will Be at Brawn GP in 2010?

Well, it finally happened. After all the rumours and speculation, Fernando Alonso has now been confirmed a 2010 Ferrari Driver. Now, Alonso is one of my all-time favourite drivers and I certainly want him to go down as a Legend and win many more titles, but this article isn’t about him.

The Spaniard’s move to red overalls has opened the floodgates in the F1 market and my team, Brawn GP are certainly effected by this mega...but expected news.

Though there has been the odd tip here and there that Robert Kubica is linked with Brawn, the stronger money is on a move to Renault, (though the Pole has not yet signed anything).

Renault haven’t signed anything either, but some believe that Kubica’s team-mate could end up as Timo Glock.

This all still leaves 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen in the dark. If rumours are to be believed, then it looks as if the Fin will move back to McLaren; although Kimi is making no firm commitments to anyone and could still switch to another discipline or even retire all together, (it’s alright for some!).

Kimi has also been linked with a move to Toyota who seem to be having a complete clean out. However, the Fin says he only wants to go to a competitive team.

So, as it stands, we most likely have Ferrari, McLaren full, Renault with one driver, and Toyota empty! This leaves several big names still floating around. I’m talking about Glock, Trulli, Hiedfeld, and Niko Rosberg.

Now then, on to Brawn. Well, I am disappointed to hear the rumour that Jenson is holding out for more money (which is doing him no favours in the ‘Jen’s is a money grabbing playboy’ camp). However, I can see why he may be doing it. Personally, I think he still owes the team his soul and should be jumping at the chance to drive for them!

All that said, I think we can comfortably assume he will be sitting in a white car next year.

What about Rubens then? It looks as if the Brazilian’s luck has run out and despite career saving drives over the past few seasons I think he has come to the end of his time with the ex-Honda outfit. This is a real shame, as I really admire and respect Rubinio and the way Honda and Brawn treat him does piss me off a bit.

I can’t see Rubens staying even if he does win the Title, but who would replace him at Brawn and where would he go?

Again, if we believe the rumours, Mercedes look to be moving towards far greater involvement with Brawn GP and that has led many to believe that a German driver is needed for good PR. The most likely move is Rosberg to Brawn, Rubens the other way to Williams.

However, there are three big German names available and one of them (Glock) comes from a team looking for a big name, competitive driver. I think we should discount a Hiedfeld switch to BGP, but I think both Glock and Rosberg have very strong chances in the battle to become Jens’s team-mate; but who would I choose?

Toyota seem pretty keen not to make any concrete agreements with the Timo which can’t do him any favours. However, despite showing promise here and there and getting a P2 last week in Singapore, the German has never really delivered on his potential. That’s not to say he isn’t a great driver.

He was strong in GP2, (winning the Series in 2007), and had a very respectable rookie year in F1. However, despite having a theoretically fast car, a series of very average performances in 2009 have led many to question the German’s talent.

This is a stark contrast when compared to Nico Rosberg who has gone a great way in proving his critics wrong this year. Since joining Williams in 2006, the young German has improved a great deal and even has an F1 record to his name (youngest driver to set a fastest lap in Bahrain 2006).

Rosberg has had a very strong 2009, scoring points in all but four races. He has regularly topped the Friday time sheets, outperformed his team-mate and qualified in the top 10 on Saturdays.

On race day, the Williams has always looked better than on Saturday, and Rosberg has been the bloke thrashing it around the track best. A frankly excellent season so far has only been spoilt by a strange and silly mistake last week in Singapore when he overshot the white line leading to a penalty.

I think you can probably tell who I’d like to see replace poor old Rubens if and when he gets the boot. I must admit, Nico is one of my three favourite drivers so I am biased, but I truly feel that he will gain more from Brawn if the team continues to be competitive into 2010.

Rosberg is also a small genius and I wonder if his engineering knowledge (he was offered a place to study at University in England), will also help him develop BGP further in the future.

Personally, I love Rubens and although nothing has been confirmed I think it looks as if he’s off next year. If I could pick my perfect team it would be a three car set up, piloted by Alonso, Button and Rosberg. However, I’ll happily settle for a Button, Rosberg line up in 2010.

As I say, I hate writing this in a way that discounts poor old Rubens, but if I were in charge of Brawn GP, I would be heading for Williams mobile HQ with my contract form rather than Toyota.