REMEMBER WHERE YOU READ IT FIRST!
Yes, like us, you probably read it in
AutoSprout but now you only need to look in one place to jog your memory as to who might be driving where next season, what team might be looking at which risingest young star, which anonymous egg-head will be burning the midnight oil working on improved valve-guide seals to which engine, which multi-national conglomerate will be wasting the hard-earned cash of its customers and shareholders on which square inch of decal transfer, and some other stuff.
Just look through the table below, where we use the following conventions to indicate a team's choice of drivers, test drivers, engine, tyres, sponsors, management and technicians:
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Bold: |
as near as we can tell, absolutely certain, barring a sudden change in sponsor and a big, fat, contract-breaking pay-out. |
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Normal text: |
probables, possibles and outside chancers. Or downright no-hopers with good agents. |
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Struck through: |
Who or what's been in contention, and then suddenly out of contention again, including this year's drivers who've been given the finger. |
Items that have been added or updated within the last ten days are marked with a

, most of the column headings can be clicked to sort the table by that column and hovering over the abbreviations in the "SERIES" column will display a full explanation of that abbreviation.
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SERIES |
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TEAM |
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ELEMENT |
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ROLE |
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COMMENTS |
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F1 |
Caterham |
Heikki Kovalainen |
Driver |
His end to the 2012 season was impressive and he keeps out-qualifying his team-mate, so they're happy to keep him on. |
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F1 |
Caterham |
Jarno Trulli |
Driver |
He probably under-performed in 2012 but he's a good asset when it comes to developing the car, which is what the team needs at the moment. |
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F1 |
Caterham |
Vitaly Petrov |
Driver |
Although the team apparently has two drivers with contracts, there's a rumour that Petrov is in talks about taking Trulli's seat. The bounder. |
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F1 |
Caterham |
Daniel Ricciardo |
Driver |
The Red Bull-backed driver is likely to remain on the grid for 2012 and this is one of the possibilities, given that Toro Rosso probably won't have any spare seats. |
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F1 |
Caterham |
Renault |
Engine |
The deal has been extended to the end of 2013 and both parties currently sound as if they'd like to extend it further. Remember this moment, lads, when it all goes wrong and you want an early release. |
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F1 |
Caterham |
Karun Chandhok |
Test driver |
It's unlikely he'll bag a race seat anywhere, so a third-driver deal looks like his best bet and he already has a relationship with the team. Perhaps not the best relationship, given that they don't want him to race for them, but it's better than nothing. |
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F1 |
Ferrari |
Fernando Alonso |
Driver |
He's extended his contract until the end of 2016, which is an awfully long time in F1 terms. Getting on for 174 billion milliseconds, in fact. |
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F1 |
Ferrari |
Felipe Massa |
Driver |
It's probably long enough now since his nasty accident at Hungary that the team can drop him without it seeming callous. And that, as far as we can tell, is the only reason they've kept him on for so long. |
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F1 |
Ferrari |
Mark Webber |
Driver |
Should Felipe Massa's contract not be renewed, Webber would be a pretty good choice for a replacement. He might even manage not to spin five times at Silverstone if it rains. |
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F1 |
Ferrari |
Nico Rosberg |
Driver |
It seems that he's being mentioned as a possible for exactly the same teams as Felipe Massa, for some reason. |
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F1 |
Ferrari |
Santander |
Sponsor |
The evil bank will be partnering the evil F1 team until the end of 2017 at least. |
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F1 |
Ferrari |
Sam Michael |
Technician |
He's leaving Williams at the end of the season, which so far has been their worst ever. If Ferrari fancy a bit of that kind of performace, we'd welcome it. |
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F1 |
Force India |
Nico Hulkenberg |
Driver |
He's had a year off racing and has spent it trying to convince the team to give him another go. He's a good prospect, as much as it pains us to admit it. |
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F1 |
Force India |
Paul di Resta |
Driver |
They've got at least three good options for their two race seats but the Scot seems pretty confident he'll be in one of them. He may be dull as ditchwater out of the cockpit but he's pretty handy in it. |
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F1 |
Force India |
Adrian Sutil |
Driver |
A strong end to the season has improved his 2012 prospects but he's up against some stiff competition. And he's got silly hair. |
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F1 |
Force India |
Jules Bianchi |
Test driver |
The frenchman remains part of Ferrari's young driver programme, giving us two reasons to dislike him, and is now Force India's reserve driver too. |
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F1 |
HRT |
Narain Karthikeyan |
Driver |
Really? Wait. Really? |
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F1 |
HRT |
Pedro de la Rosa |
Driver |
Well, blow me down. Pedro's got himself back into a race seat. He's agreed a two-year deal with the team. What is it with drivers in their forties? Schumacher, Barrichello and now de la Rosa. Maybe there's still hope for us. |
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F1 |
HRT |
Daniel Ricciardo |
Driver |
He might stay where he raced in 2011 but it's more likely he'll move on somewhere. |
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F1 |
HRT |
Luis Perez-Sala |
Management |
The former Minardi driver steps into the shoes just vacated by Colin Kolles. He's the new team principal, in other words. |
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F1 |
HRT |
Colin Kolles |
Management |
He's left the team because they're relocating to Spain and will no longer need his factory in Germany. At least he's got dentistry to fall back on. |
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F1 |
Lotus |
Kimi Raikkonen |
Driver |
Wow. Didn't see that one coming. He's signed a two-year deal to return to F1 and it's not with Williams. How did they keep that secret? No matter. Welcome back, Kimi. |
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F1 |
Lotus |
Romain Grosjean |
Driver |
Eric Boullier likes him, possibly because he's french, but we're not so keen, possibly because he's french. |
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F1 |
Lotus |
Adrian Sutil |
Driver |
He'll probably lose his Force India seat to Hulkenberg, so he may pitch up here. He's meant to be very good but he doesn't exactly set the track alight. |
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F1 |
Lotus |
Jerome d'Ambrosio |
Driver |
His seat's under threat from Romain Grosjean, of all people. He's got silly hair. There's no place in F1 for him. |
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F1 |
Lotus |
Nick Heidfeld |
Driver |
He races well but qualifies not so well, which means that he's more likely to be let go than his team-mate. |
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F1 |
Lotus |
Robert Kubica |
Driver |
If he's anywhere near recovered enough to drive an F1 car, the team will put him in it. |
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F1 |
Lotus |
Vitaly Petrov |
Driver |
He has a contract for 2012 and he's driving a lot better in 2011 than he did in 2010, so he probably deserves his seat. His manager scares us, though. |
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F1 |
Lotus |
Jerome d'Ambrosio |
Test driver |
While he's looking for a race seat somewhere, he's also in the running for a third-driver role at Lotus. Robert Kubica ruled himself out pre-season last year and Kimi almost did the same in December, so it's not a bad back-up plan. |
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F1 |
Marussia |
Charles Pic |
Driver |
He'll graduate from GP2 straight to a race seat, which leaves Jerome D'Ambrosio out of a drive. |
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F1 |
Marussia |
Timo Glock |
Driver |
He's signed a three-year deal, so he's committed to the former Virgin team until 2014. |
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F1 |
Marussia |
Romain Grosjean |
Driver |
He could replace fellow Gravity-managed Jerome d'Ambrosio as a warm-up for a future Renault drive. Is he really that good? |
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F1 |
McLaren |
Jenson Button |
Driver |
He's in the middle of a multi-year deal. No question about this one. |
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F1 |
McLaren |
Lewis Hamilton |
Driver |
He has a contract with the team until the end of 2012, so unless he's going to try to wriggle out of it Jenson-style, this is where he should be. |
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F1 |
McLaren |
Sam Michael |
Management |
He seems to have resigned from Williams for cocking things up and then been snapped up by McLaren as their new sporting director. Are we missing something here? |
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F1 |
McLaren |
Gary Paffett |
Test driver |
He's a strong contender for dullest man in top-flight motorsport but the team clearly rates his ability and they've extended his contract - or possibly contracted his extension - for another year. |
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F1 |
Mercedes GP |
Michael Schumacher |
Driver |
The team love him, even if he's not actually that good these days. |
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F1 |
Mercedes GP |
Nico Rosberg |
Driver |
He'll be with the team until at least the end of 2013, with options for 2014. There wasn't really anywhere else he could go. |
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F1 |
Mercedes GP |
Paul di Resta |
Driver |
He's only completed three races for Force India but he's already being linked with a drive at the team in the future. Could he be the one to nick Michael Schumacher's seat? |
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F1 |
Mercedes GP |
Aldo Costa |
Management |
He left Ferrari as technical director after a disappointing start to 2011 and now he's pitched up at Mercedes, where he'll no doubt help them to a disappointing 2012. |
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F1 |
Mercedes GP |
Geoff Willis |
Management |
Geoff continues his mission to work for every F1 team on the grid by joining Mercedes as Technology Director. |
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F1 |
Mercedes GP |
Sam Michael |
Technician |
After resigning from Williams, he was never likely to be short of job offers and Mercedes are one of the first teams to express an interest. |
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F1 |
Red Bull |
Mark Webber |
Driver |
He's on a rolling year-by-year contract and the team may have their own reasons for choosing not to renew, such as, for instance, he gets a bit too close to beating his annointed team-mate. |
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F1 |
Red Bull |
Sebastian Vettel |
Driver |
They've got him until the end of 2014, by which time he might have grown into his face. |
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F1 |
Red Bull |
Felipe Massa |
Driver |
No, no, no. Absolutely not. But someone mentioned it, so we have to report it. |
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F1 |
Red Bull |
Jaime Alguersuari |
Driver |
If Mark Webber ends up not staying, the team might promote one of its young drivers from the sister team. |
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F1 |
Red Bull |
Lewis Hamilton |
Driver |
He's just engaged a new management team and all parties are denying the rumour, so there's bound to be some truth in it. |
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F1 |
Red Bull |
Nico Rosberg |
Driver |
It would depend on Mark Webber making space but he wouldn't be a bad replacement. |
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F1 |
Red Bull |
Sebastien Buemi |
Driver |
There may just be a vacancy for him if Mark Webber leaves. |
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F1 |
Red Bull |
Sebastien Buemi |
Test driver |
He's apparently not good enough to race for Toro Rosso but he is acceptable as the reserve driver for the main team. Every cloud, Seb mate. |
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F1 |
Sauber |
Kamui Kobayashi |
Driver |
This is "very pleased" with both its drivers, so a year's extension has been agreed. Good news all round, we think. |
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F1 |
Sauber |
Sergio Perez |
Driver |
He signed a multi-year deal in 2011, which is unusual for a rookie, so he's definitely racing in 2012. |
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F1 |
Sauber |
Esteban Gutierrez |
Test driver |
He's being retained after winning GP3. Let's see how he does in GP2. |
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F1 |
Team Lotus |
Caterham |
Team |
The disputed "Lotus" name will be given up in favour of the name of a car company that Tony Fernandes does actually have the rights to. |
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F1 |
Toro Rosso |
Daniel Ricciardo |
Driver |
Franz Tost has hinted heavily that this will happen. Not sure whose seat he'll be taking but both of them must be nervous. |
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F1 |
Toro Rosso |
Jean-Eric Vergne |
Driver |
He impressed enough in the Red Bull at the young driver test in Abu Dhabi to get a race seat with the junior team. I think we're now over the quota for french F1 drivers, so can we stop? |
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F1 |
Toro Rosso |
Jaime Alguersuari |
Driver |
He hasn't set the F1 world alight but he's probably convinced the team to keep him on. |
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F1 |
Toro Rosso |
Sebastien Buemi |
Driver |
He's probably done just enough to keep his seat for 2012. |
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F1 |
Toro Rosso |
CEPSA |
Sponsor |
The oil giant will continue its sponsorship of the team in 2012. Can't say we'd ever noticed them before. |
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F1 |
Virgin |
Marussia |
Team |
One of several team name changes for the 2012 season. |
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F1 |
Williams |
Bruno Senna |
Driver |
Williams and the Senna name don't have a happy history but it depends how superstitious Bruno is. |
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F1 |
Williams |
Pastor Maldonado |
Driver |
He's virtually certain to retain his seat, not least because his PDVSA backing brings over £20 million. Erm..., wow. |
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F1 |
Williams |
Adrian Sutil |
Driver |
Adrian Sutil? Williams cars used to be driven by gods..., |
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F1 |
Williams |
Giedo van der Garde |
Driver |
The team is looking at pay drivers and Giedo could bring a sizeable wad of cash with him. |
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F1 |
Williams |
Kimi Raikkonen |
Driver |
It's said that he's visited the factory to discuss a possible return to racing, although the team favours someone who could bring some cash. Kimi in a Williams? Yes, please. |
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F1 |
Williams |
Rubens Barrichello |
Driver |
He'd like a new deal but says he has "other things going on in F1" if it doesn't come off. If you say so, Rubinho. |
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F1 |
Williams |
Renault |
Engine |
They've inked a deal for 2012 and 2013 but they say it's not for nostalgic reasons. We're inclined to believe them - Red Bull have been doing pretty well recently with Renault powerplants, so they can't be at all bad. |
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F1 |
Williams |
Patrick Head |
Management |
He announced that he was leaving the F1 team some time ago but he officially left at the end of 2011. He'll be doing stuff with hybrid energy systems now. |
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F1 |
Williams |
AT&T |
Sponsor |
The title-sponsorship deal, in place since 2007, came to an end on December 31st 2011, so the team is currently looking for a replacement. Something else in telecommunications is the rumour. |
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F1 |
Williams |
Sam Michael |
Technician |
After the first two races of the season, the technical director tendered his resignation and it was accepted. Never ones for sentiment, the Williams top brass. |
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F1 |
Williams |
Valtteri Bottas |
Test driver |
The Finn will drive in 15 of the Friday practice sessions in 2012 and will no doubt also spend an awful lot of time becoming nauseous in the team's simulator. |
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IRL |
KV Racing |
Rubens Barrichello |
Driver |
His wife's told him "no ovals" but he's having a test with them anyway. Frosty atmosphere chez Barrichello ahoy! |
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LeM |
Rebellion Racing |
Nick Heidfeld |
Driver |
He's signed a deal to race in the FIA's World Endurance Championship and Le Mans too. Some might say that he's the perfect driver for endurance racing and they might even mean it as a compliment too. |