The 2009 season is over, but surprisingly less than half of the field is confirmed for next season. Fernando Alonso’s long-rumoured, and finally confirmed move to Ferrari, held up the traditional summer announcements, while the addition of new teams and the uncertainty over the future of Sauber makes for an interesting off-season. We take a look at the driver market on a team by team basis.
Brawn Mercedes
Despite taking championship honours at its very first attempt, the team has yet to confirm its driver line-up for next season. We …

Michael Schumacher has admitted that his decision to try and return to Formula One this year was an emotional decision rather than a rational decision. The seven-times F1 world champion was asked by Ferrari to replace injured Felipe Massa after his unfortunate incident in Hungary.

Schumacher was unable to replace Massa in the end because of a neck injury but would have loved to return to F1. Speaking about his decision at the time to make his comeback in Formula One he told Reuters: “It wasn’t really a rational decision, it …

Christian Horner is delighted with what Red Bull Racing has achieved this season but is also keeping both eyes firmly open as the 2010 campaign draws ever closer. Although this year’s championship may be barely 48 hours over, teams are now working flat-out on next season’s contenders for what will be another season of changes.

With 2009 having welcomed a raft of aerodynamics changes, the biggest modification for 2010 will be the ban on refueling during races, meaning teams must fill cars up from the start; the change is larger …

Sam Michael sees perfect sense in the Williams driver line-up of Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hülkenberg for next season. As the test driver, GP2 Champion of 2009, steps up to the race team, he will be partnered by the most experienced man in the history of the sport, who makes the transfer from Brawn.

Germany’s Hülkenberg makes the jump from GP2

With Barrichello believed to have signed for Wiliams perhaps a number of races before the end of the 2009 season, Technical Director Michael believes that the decision is complete logic. …

Red Bull Racing looks set to continue using Renault engines in the 2010 season, after ruling out a possible switch to Mercedes power units.
The Milton Keynes-based squad was chasing the German engines for next season and its hopes of reaching a deal were boosted when F1 rules changed to allow a manufacturer to supply units to four teams.
The delay in reaching a deal, however, has been one of the main reasons why Red Bull now is set to continue with Renault for another year.

The Force India F1 Team has confirmed that Dr Colin Kolles’ contract with Force India ended on 31st October 2009.
Dr Kolles has been associated with the company since the Jordan Team was acquired by Midland Racing, then by Spyker, and subsequently by the present owners. Dr Kolles was personally associated and enabled the sale and purchase of the team and has assisted the various owners of the company in running the team since 2005.

If the Japanese press is to be believed we will hear word, possibly later today, that Toyota will be adding their name to the list of big car manufacturers to leave the world of Formula One in the last twelve months, joining fellow Japanese giants at Honda and German car giant BMW.
With Toyota bosses due to begin a four day meeting later today, the Mainichi Shimbun is stating that the decision to leave the pinnacle of Motorsports has already been made despite earlier reports that their young and upcoming …

Ferrari had one of the worst finishes to a season in over a decade this year when they finished up on the fourth rung of the constructors ladder. When the year got underway down under last March, Ferrari were one of the team’s disadvantaged in the widely publicised double diffuser row that many believed gave Brawn GP the early edge and eventual crown with Jenson Button winning the first six races of the season.
After the FIA deemed the controversial diffuser legal, other teams adopted the same set up, however Ferrari …

After failing to score a single point for the Scuderia Ferrari team after being signed on to replace Luca Badoer, who had been filling in for the injured Felipe Massa this season, Giancarlo Fisichella claims he has no regrets about his decision to leave the Force India team after claiming their first pole and podium finish.

Sebastian Vettel says himself and the Red Bull Racing team must target both titles next year after finishing runners-up in the 2009 season.
“There’s only one step to do better, for the team’s ranking as well as for the drivers’ for myself. There’s no question about the target,” Vettel said at the Race of Champions in Beijing on Tuesday.
The German driver finished second behind Brawn rival Jenson Button in the championship, while Red Bull was runner-up in the Constructors’ Championship behind the Briton’s team.

BMW motorsport boss Mario Theissen says he is yet to decide on his future following the German car maker’s decision to leave Formula 1.
BMW announced earlier this year that it was leaving grand prix racing at the end of the 2009 season, and Theissen admitted his options remain open.
He made it clear, however, that his main priority is to try and secure a place on the grid for the Hinwil-based squad for next season.

Toyota technical chief Pascal Vasselon believes that this season has been the Japanese manufacturer’s best Formula 1 campaign to date in terms of outright pace.
The Cologne-based outfit failed to match its 2005 high of fourth place in the constructors’ championship, but in a tighter than anticipated field, the Frenchman was satisfied with the speed of this year’s car.
“They are two very different circumstances,” he said. “In 2005, two teams were dominating – McLaren and Renault – and pace-wise, our car was 1.5 seconds per lap slower. This season we have …

McLaren-Mercedes is as strong as it has ever been and there are no plans to end the relationship in the near future, according to Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug.
Although there has been reports that Mercedes-Benz is considering buying a majority stake in the Brawn GP team, Haug made it clear that the German car maker is fully committed to its partnership with McLaren.
Daimler, owner of Mercedes, has a 40 per cent stake in the British squad.

Ross Brawn has praised Rubens Barrichello’s contribution at the Brawn team following the confirmation that the Brazilian will leave the squad.
Barrichello, the most experienced driver in F1 history, finished in third place in the standings this year, having scored two wins as Brawn went on to take both titles.
The veteran Brazilian, however, will leave Brawn and join the Williams team in the 2010 season, when he will be partnered by German Nico Hulkenberg.