With two major announcements, namely Hulkenberg joining Sauber and Toro Rosso retaining Daniel Ricciardo and Jean Eric Vergne, we decided to update you with the 2013 grid.
Red Bull (Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber)
Red Bull will have an unchanged line up for the 2013 season; the Austrian team have had the same line up since Vettel joined in 2009.
McLaren (Jenson Button and Sergio Perez)
Jenson Button will stay at the McLaren team for 4th season in a row after signing a multi-year deal with the British team last year. He’ll be joined by Sergio Perez who has scored three podiums with Sauber this year. The Mexican will replace Lewis Hamilton who has been with the team since his F1 debut in 2007.
Ferrari (Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa)
Ferrari will retain their 2012 line up of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. Alonso has a contract with the team till 2016 while Massa has a one year contract. Earlier this year, many drivers including Hulkenberg had been linked with Ferrari.
Mercedes (Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg)
Lewis Hamilton will replace Michael Schumacher and partner his Formula A teammate Nico Rosberg at Mercedes.
Lotus (Kimi Raikkonen)
Lotus announced that they’ll retain Kimi Raikkonen for 2013. They haven’t announced who’ll partner this Finn but it’s likely that it will be Romain Grosjean.
Sauber (Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez)
Sauber have an all new line up. Nico Hulkenberg moves in from Force India and he will partner Gutierrez who impressed with his performance as test driver.
Force India (TBA)
Force India are yet to announce their 2013 line up, however it’s almost sure that Paul di Resta will be retained. He might be partnered by Jaime Alguersuari (he follows SFI on Twitter and that’s the only team he follows) or Adrian Sutil.
Williams (Pastor Maldonado)
Williams will retain the service of Pastor Maldonado who will be joined by Valterri Bottas who is the current GP3 world champion.
Toro Rosso (Daniel Ricciardo and Jean Eric Vergne)
Toro Ross will retain their 2012 line up after completely changing their line up earlier this year.
Caterham (Charles Pic)
Charles Pic moves in from Marussia. The other seat is still vacant.
Marussia (Timo Glock)
Timo Glock has a contract with Marussia until 2014. Team’s current driver Charles Pic and test driver Max Chilton are in contention for the 2nd seat.
HRT (Pedro de la Rosa)*
Only Pedro de la Rosa has been confirmed at HRT while Narain Karthikeyan, who brings a lot of money is expected to stay at the Spanish team. However, HRT’s future itself remains in doubt if they can’t find a buyer by 2 December.