A Glimpse At the '08 Driver Market

At the end of last week the split between two time world champion Fernando Alonso and legendary British performance race team McLaren came to an early conclusion. News is thus far limited as to where Alonso is heading next season and that spells an uncertain future for many of the other drivers in the field.

Here's a list of the confirmed drivers and a list of the possible driver/team matchups for 2008:

Confirmed:
Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen
Felipe Massa

McLaren
Lewis Hamilton
???

BMW
Nick Heidfeld
Robert Kubica

Renault
???
???

Williams
Nico Rosberg
???

Red Bull
David Coulthard
Mark Webber

Toyota
Jarno Trulli
???

Toro Rosso
Sebastien Vettle
Sebastian Bourdais

Honda
Jenson Button
Rubens Barichello

Super Aguri
Takuma Sato
Anthony Davidson

Spyker - Force India F1
Adrian Sutil
???

Potential Drivers/Teams:

Renault is the biggest wonderment in the field. With Fernando Alonso's availability now...available, the French team are one of the front runners. Rookie Heikki Kovalainen is contracted for 08 but not guaranteed to race. Veteran Giancarlo Fisichella's job for 08 is up in the air after being outraced by Kovalainen for the majority of the season. Test driver Nelson Piquet hopes to capatilize on Fisichella's closure with the team.

McLaren have a seat to be filled after parting ways with Alonso. Team boss Ron Dennis made it clear that he is in no rush to fill that seat and will the make the proper decision in due time. Front runners appear to be Heikki Kovalainen, Nico Rosberg and even Adrian Sutil.

Williams have a seat to fill next to Nico Rosberg. Though Rosberg is favored for a McLaren ride, the Grove based outfit insist that he is contracted for '08 and not for sale. Next to Rosberg, test driver Kazuki Nakajima may have a chance. Other rumored drivers are Vitantonio Liuzzi, Nelson Piquet Jr, Giancarlo Fisichella and even Fernando Alonso - though unlikely.

Following Ralf Schumacher's departure from the Toyota factory team a seat is available and likely to go to GP2 Champion Timo Glock pending contractual release from his duties as test driver for BMW Sauber.

Finally, Adrian Sutil is confirmed to driver at Spyker again in 2008. Force India F1 will be the new moniker for the team who was purchased recently by Indian billionaire, Vijay Mallya. Malya has close ties to Ralf Schumacher and potentially could save his friend from early retirement with a race seat. Roldan Rodriquez, no relation to Bender, has a contract with Team Force India F1 for '08 but the capacity of that contract is unknown.