Driver movements for 2010, the ongoing merry-go-round
2010 sees the most changed grid in a long while and whereas the new teams and drivers receive a lot of press there are also a good few drivers who’ve changed teams over the winter. Some of them for the better and some for worse.
- Jenson Button – Brawn to McLaren
- Rubens Barrichello – Brawn to Williams
- Nico Rosberg – Williams to Mercedes
- Fernando Alonso – Renault to Ferrari
- Timo Glock – Toyota to Virgin
- Jarno Trulli – Toyota to Lotus
- Heikki Kovalainen – McLaren to Lotus
- Robert Kubica – BMW Sauber to Renault
Some of the moves were forced such as Timo Glock, Jarno Trulli and to some extent Robert Kubica because of the demise of the team though in Kubica’s case Sauber re-emerged later on. Glocks move sees him end up at Virgin and Trulli’s at Lotus – two of the new teams – only time will tell whether these moves make sense and a lot of it will depend on the engineering departments that have built the new cars. Kubica’s move will depend on how well Renault have weathered the storm of last year and whether he can put together a concerted team leading effort.
With the arrival of Nico Rosberg (and Michael Schumacher) to the Brawn/Mercedes team there was no room for Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button. Rubens Barrichello effectively makes the swap with Nico Rosberg and Williams whereas Jenson Button moves to an in form McLaren team. It seems a downward step for Rubens really but then if he had no choice Williams are a good bet for a reasonable car with a good chance of scoring some points. Nico Rosberg joins a team that could very well challenge for the world championship though he’ll have to beat Michael Schumacher to get anywhere near it.
Much has been made of the Jenson Button move but I think it makes sense in a lot of ways, we’ll have to see how if works out. Jenson Button’s move also forced out Heikki Kovalainen who has failed to make any large impression at McLaren though he did show flashes of brilliance occasionally. Kovalainen may have found just what he needs at Lotus, a team without the expectation to win each time out and a team mate who he can learn from.
That leaves the Fernando Alonso move which is no surprise as the move was announced early last year. It means that Alonso will now have the machinery to challenge at the sharp end of F1 again and I’d expect him to take full advantage of it.
We’ll have to wait to see which of the drivers enjoy the move the most – though I suspect it will be Alonso.
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