Who Will Drive for McLaren Mercedes in 2010?
Coming off a last lap Driver’s Championship in 2008, McLaren has fallen on its face in 2009. So, who will drive for McLaren Mercedes in 2010 now that this season is in the trash?
It all seemed so glorious. Lewis had finally pulled it off. His last lap save in Brazil snagged him the championship and prevented another [cough, cough] choking away of the championship. Having finally won the deal, the pressure was off and 2009 was going to be a coronation. Well, not exactly. Lewis is fine, but McLaren has built an abomination of a car. It is so bad that Force India actually out qualified Lewis in Turkey. With the season a waste, the 2010 version is already on everyone’s mind. So, who will drive for McLaren?
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis has proved his driving skills beyond doubt. That being said, a team leading driver needs to show more than just on track ability. He needs to be the face of the team, protect team members and develop the car. Lewis has had problems in this area. The drive in Australia should have been his golden moment, but the resulting Lie-Gate did that in. The fact he threw a team member under the bus did not settle well with many including more than a few of the members of McLaren. Even worse, the 2009 McLaren simply is not advancing and the driver takes part of the blame for that.
So, is there any chance of Lewis leaving for another team in 2010? It is highly unlikely. Still, it wouldn’t be a huge shock to see him replaced by none other than Jenson Button. If it happened, it would be only because Button was changing a bigger payday than he has at Brawn. Brawn is clearly the better team now and probably will be for some time.
Heikki Kovalainen
Nobody has ripped Heikki like have. He should not be driving for a leading team. In fact, he should not be in Formula One. There is little reason to keep ripping him. Let’s just say it is a sure thing that he will be out of this seat in 2010 and probably entirely out of Formula One.
Nico Rosberg
The obvious replacement for Heikki is Nico Rosberg. He’s been wasting away at Williams for years, but does show pace from time to time. He doesn’t appear to be in the class of Lewis, but he will at least be competitive. If McLaren’s design team can pull their head out of their bum, the team could challenge for both championships with Nico on board.
Sebastian Vettel
Mercedes is German and they’ve made it clear they would love to have Sebastian at some point. I think it is unlikely for 2010 unless Lewis Hamilton is given the boot. Lewis is the kind of driver that needs a soft number two driver. Vettel would be anything but that. As a result, there is almost no chance of him coming to McLaren in 2010.
Adrian Sutil
How about a dark horse? Adrian and Lewis are friends. Sutil is also talented, but rarely gets to show it driving around in the back of the pack. He would come cheap and that might mean a lot next year with the sponsorship problems that will arise in F1. Still this is a very dark horse in the race for a seat at McLaren.
So, 2010 will see Heikki kicked to the curb. My bet is Nico takes his seek and gives Lewis more competition than anticipated. If Nico isn’t the choice, look for Sutil to be the choice.
Lemmy