Respected and well known F1F pundit Lenny McDonald has given his views of what the driver lineups will look like next season. Lenny McDonald writes below. Confirmed: Blue
Prediction: Red Franklin F1 Will Hoskins was confirmed a few weeks ago, however many are unsure of what will happens to his current teammate and championship leader; Nathaniel Powers. The paddock was shocked that the championship leading team signed up the uninspiring Mattias Hirvonen. However it is yet to be confirmed what his role will be, I think he will be their test driver perhaps alongside Enrique Ruiz. I think the team will hold onto to Powers, who is likely to be come world champion in my eye. 01. Nathaniel Powers 02. Will Hoskins KLM Team 23 The Dutch team has confirmed the re-signing of Jean Mattson who won the opening Grand Prix, and has been performing well of late. Andaa d'Hazorne has expressed his frustration with his other driver Elroy Wagner, after the incidents in Canada. The German driver has shown speed though, and who really would take his place of we was to be fired? Dutch driver Felix Beyer who lost his seat after the expulsion of BMW Zyla? Current test driver Jacinto Van Slooten? The fact is all of the drivers in the top six in the championship have already been signed; apart from Powers and Wagner. I believe the team will hold onto the German. 03. Jean Mattson 04. Eloy Wagner Liverpool Grand Prix Both of their drivers, Adrien Simon and Karl Beckenbauer have been re-signed by Mathershaw Technology which will transform into Liverpool Grand Prix at the start of next season. Simon and Beckenbauer have showed promise. Having re-signed both of their current drivers while they were further down the championship standings will help the team financially; not to mention the 25% discounts for each driver. 05. Adrien Simon 06. Karl Beckenbauer Scuderia Rossi Antonio Rossi has publicly praised Puccio Gioadno many times, and for that the promising 19 year old Italian will stick around for next season. Rossi has also shown his support for Enzo Domenicalli, explaining if he improves his form he will receive another contract. I think Enzo Domenicalli is showing signs of improvement, and for that I doubt any change in driver lineup for the Italian team. 07. Puccio Giodano 08. Enzo Domenicalli Syco Lucas Wilson Grand Prix The team with the purple cars have already announced their driver lineup. Portuguese Carson Davenport will take the role of lead driver, but will enjoy the company of a new teammate. Jonas Phipps will make his way from Ingram GP to Lucas Wilson Grand Prix. What will happen to Hugh Dwyer though? A driver I always thought had a lot of talent. 09. Carson Davenport 10. Jonas Phipps Orange Downton Despite my beliefs that Kip Maxwell has been far from promising, Bradley Downton will keep him in the team. After the accident of Scott Parsons I find it unlikely he will return to the series competitively any time soon. Marcus Thunder has been drafted into the team to take his place at this weekends United States Grand Prix. I think we will see Marcus Thunder remain at the team next season their second race driver, merely because Downton has put a lot off money into his young driver program. 11. Kip Maxwell 12. Marcus Thunder Westwood Racing This is a tricky one if I am to be honest. Personally I have found Romano Agostino a better driver than Douglas Bacon. There is also the talk of the teams test driver Keith Boston, who is expected the replace either Agostino or Bacon later on in the season, and depending on who is lower in the championship. Perhaps a driver like Hugh Dwyer, Tumo Kinnumen, or Gerard Alaniz are attractive options for the team? Its a wild guess, but I say a lineup of Douglas Bacon (praised by Harry Westwood immensely), and Hugh Dwyer (to complete a North American lineup). Romano Agostino having to look elsewhere, after more than likely losing his seat to Boston throughout the season. 14. Douglas Bacon 15. Hugh Dwyer Molto Veloce James Harding has impressed many in the paddock and caught the attention of Lucas Wilson for a while. For his reward Hollis Graham will keep the Australian in his team. Jawa Ahmad has been replaced by Regi Abott for the next race, so who knows if the debut Belgian will impress enough to continue with the team throughout next season. Perhaps Molto Veloce will be looking at some Italian drivers to go with their Ferrari engines? I have a feeling Romano Agostino will end up in the second seat. 16. James Harding 17. Romano Agostino Peugeot Grand Prix There is a lot of excitement about Peugeot entering the series as a manufacturer. Kaz Armos has stated time and time again he wants a French rookie in the car. Armos has also claimed he will not keep any of his current drivers. This automatically leaves Gerard Alaniz and Giani Ledesma out of the equation. However who will partner the French rookie? A few weeks a go Kaz Armos put a bid on Lewis Ellington, clearly wanting the Englishman's services. Could Lewis Ellinton; a race winner, confident yet arrogant beyond belief, lead the French car making giant into next season? I think so. 18. Lewis Ellington 19. French rookie Fun F1 Lee Fuller impressed enough in his debut race to receive a contract for next season as one of the teams race drivers. The team other driver Tumo Kinnumen has openly admitted his disgust for Fullers driving. Could tension within the team push Kinnumen away? If he was to leave who would replace him? Despite that Kinnumen has delivered strong results and Dick Diceman will be eager to hold onto him. Surely the Finnish team will want to keep its Finnish driver? I reckon so. 20. Tumo Kinnumen 21. Lee Fuller Ingram GP The team has lost the promising Jonas Phipps to Lucas Wilson, but can they hold onto Diego Campos. In my opinion I have seen nothing to suggest that Diego Campos is in high demand nor worthy of a top drive, and perhaps Ingram GP will want to get rid of him and start of fresh. Though then again, keeping Campos will help them save money which is very important for this team in particular. I think Campos will stay and will partner Edgardo Agretha who is promoted from test driver to race driver. 22. Diego Campos 23. Edgardo Agretha Mysterious twelfth team Who knows who they are but we can apparently expect an announcement within the coming weeks. Maybe this will be a lifeline to those who will lose their drive, or maybe this mysterious team will go for two rookies? 24. Rookie 25. Rookie
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