With just over 1 week until the first Grand Prix race of the 2010 season in Bahrain, we thought it’s be a nice idea to summarise what’s happened between Jenson Button’s 2009 Championship win, and now.

Teams

Shortly after the end of the 2009 season, Japanese team Toyota announced that they would no longer take part in Formula One due to financial reasons. This left drivers Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock without a drive. Previous to this, BMW Sauber had also announced that they were also pulling out of F1 due to BMW not wanting to take part, again leaving drivers Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica looking for jobs.

Sauber however managed to salvage the team, bringing it to F1 in 2010 – Although the team lost both drivers in the process, as well as the BMW Engine. Sauber are still registered as BMW Sauber, despite the lack of BMW – choosing to use a Ferrari engine instead.

Constructers champions Brawn GP were also bought out by German car manufacturer Mercedes, renaming the team Mercedes GP. Ross Brawn stays in his position as Team Principal.

4 new teams were billed to join the 2010 season, Virgin Racing, Campos (Now HRT Racing), US F1, and Lotus. US F1 recently announced that they are pulling out of the 2010 season, being unable to complete their development programme in time, and now focussing on a 2011 entry. It is understood that Stefan GP attempted to take the remaining slot on the F1 grid, however the FIA rejected their entry based on the time before the first race (some 2 weeks).

Drivers

The first major scalp in the driver juggle was Kimi Raikkonen. Mid 2009 season Ferrari announced that Renault driver Fernando Alonso would be joining the team, leaving Raikkonen without a 2009 race seat. Raikkonen was understood to only want a seat in one of two available cars, the Brawn or McLaren – however neither deal was made (likely due to the high price Raikkonen was commanding) and Raikkonen left F1 (albeit maybe temporarily).

The second biggest shock of the driver reshuffle was the move of 2009 championship winner Jenson Button over to McLaren. He joins the 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton for an all British line-up. Widely seen as a risky move, time will tell if this change was a good one for Button.

The final big news was the announcement of Michael Schumacher to the Mercedes GP team. Schumacher returns out of retirement for 3 years to lead an all German lineup with Nico Rosberg as his partner. Schumacher originally planned an F1 return in 2009 when Felipe Massa pulled out after an accident, however was unable to due to suffering a neck injury after a motorbike accident.

Remaining driver positions can be seen in our Guide to 2010 driver lineups.

Important Rule Changes

• Refuelling has been banned during the race. Drivers will only be able to pitstop with problems and tyre changes.
• The top ten drivers to qualify for the race must start the race on the same set of tyres that quaified with.
• A new points system is now in place (see here)
• KERS, although not banned by the FIA, will not be used by FOTA teams in 2010.
• A Grand Prix can now take upto 26 cars.
• Wheel covers are banned on all cars.
• Front tyres have been slightly narrowed in comparison to rear tyres
• No testing rules have been slightly amended to allow any backup drivers 1 day of testing on a circuit not part of the 2010 season in order to prepare them for racing.

Circuit Changes

British GP track Donington pulled out of hosting the 2010 GP, and any future ones after they could not secure the funding for the endeavour. After weeks of speculation, and the chance of no British Grand Prix on the timetable, an agreement was placed between F1 Administration and Silverstone to host the British GP for the next 17 years.

The Canadian Grand Prix will return in 2010. Fuji Speedway was also due to host the 2010 Japanese GP, however track owners Toyota pulled out of this as well, leaving Suzuka to continue holding the race.

Finally, South Korea will host its first GP at the Korean International Circuit in the latter part of the season.

Ex BMW-Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld has confirmed that he will join newly formed Mercedes GP as their reserve driver, sealing the all German lineup with Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg. Nick said,

“I am very pleased to be joining the MERCEDES GP PETRONAS Formula One Team. It’s the team which has attracted the most interest in the close season, not only because of the comeback of Michael Schumacher, but also because this season sees the return of the Silver Arrows cars as a Mercedes-Benz works team for the first time in over fifty years. Whilst I would of course have preferred a seat as an active driver, I am really proud to be part of the new Silver Arrows team. I have seen how committed everyone at the team is and I feel the same. I will be doing my very best to support Michael and Nico this year”

Heidfeld suffered a pretty terrible season in 2009, with his first retirement of his F1 career, which was a great record. Whilst always managing to finish races, Heidfeld has failed to make it as a race winner on all occasions, and has only managed 12 podiums in his 10 years in Formula 1.

In some late breaking news tonight, the BBC is reporting that Michael Schumacher, the 7 times Formula 1 World Champion will come out of retirement in 2010 and join Mercedes GP (formerly Brawn GP) alongside Nico Rosberg.

Schumacher had previously attempted to get back into an F1 car for Ferrari in 2009 when Felipe Massa left the 2009 season early after suffering a severe head injury. However, that was short lived after a neck injury Schumacher sustained earlier in the year meant he could not continue for health reasons.

Rumours of Schumacher joining Mercedes GP have been rife for a while now. With his old race engineer Ross Brawn leading the team, as well as the team owners Mercedes keen for an all German driver line up, Schumacher was first on their hit list for the ‘debut’ year. The team were also rumoured to be hunting down fellow German Nick Heidfeld who had until recently appeared to be missing a race seat after BMW chose to leave the sport.

According to reports, Schumacher has signed a 1 year deal with the team, assuming Mercedes are keen to see first whether the ex world champion can still handle a car as well as he used to before committing long-term. Schumacher too may be only looking to only dip his toes back into the sport to see if he wants to come back for good.

Full story can be found here.

More soon…

Mercedes GP (formerly Brawn GP) have announced that Nico Rosberg will drive for the team in 2010. Rosberg had been rumoured to be joining the outfit ever since he announced he was leaving the Williams team earlier this month.

“I am more motivated than ever and can hardly wait to start testing with the new Silver Arrow and for the first race of the new season at Bahrain on 14 March… I am very proud that I will race for the new team from the start and look forward to working with Ross Brawn.”

Team principal Ross Brawn said of his new driver:

“Nico is a great talent and with four years of experience in Formula 1 is a driver who will be able to make a valuable contribution to our team right from the outset.”

No announcement has yet been made about who will drive alongside Rosberg at Mercedes, however Nick Heidfeld, Kimi Raikkonen and even Michael Schumacher have all been rumoured to be talking to the team.

Check out our Guide to 2010 F1 Driver Lineups here.

Jose Maria Lopez has confirmed via his personal website that he intends to drive for the new US F1 team, as long as he can find the funding. Lopez said that he was close to finding the cash, and as soon as he has he will sign a contract.

Team boss Peter Windsor stated that he intended to sign the Argentinian driver,

“He is a driver we are interested in and we want him to be with us… We would like to sign the contract as soon as possible.”

Lopez is a former Renault Formula 1 test driver, racing previously in Formula 3000 and GP2 between 2004 and 2006.

Jenson Button has signed for McLaren, leaving winning team Brawn GP (Now Mercedes GP). Button will join fellow British former world champion Lewis Hamilton in 2010.

Rumours that Button would goto McLaren have been rife throughout the past month, with Button making a whistlestop visit to the Woking-based factory last week. Negotiations with his ex-team Brawn GP were said to not be going well, with the team unable to meet Button’s asking price. Formula1Blogger.com exclusively revealed that the visit was not a tour, as previously stated by McLaren.

Subsequently, Brawn GP were bought out by Mercedes Benz, who are known to be looking to front an all German team with Nico Rosberg and Nick Heidfeld.

The most interesting part of this move will be around how Button will work with team-mate Hamilton. McLaren are known to develop and build their car specifically for Hamilton, so Button may find that he struggles to begin with. That said, former team mate Rubens Barrichello was known to be the strong leader with regards to car setup for Brawn.

What this also means in Heikki Kovalainen no longer has a race seat for 2010, however is strongly rumoured to sit alongside Robert Kubica at Renault.

A formal announcement will be available later on Wednesday.

Manor GP have announced that ex-Toyota driver Timo Glock will drive for the team in 2010.

Glock, who drove recently injured his rib cage missing the final 3 Grand Prix of 2009 has signed a 2 year deal with Manor, with the option for a third season on agreement from both parties.

Glock recently became available on the drivers market after his team Toyota pulled out of Formula 1.

More Soon.

As we reported earlier today, Mercedes have confirmed that they will take ownership of Brawn GP from 2010 onwards, leaving Jenson Button – the 2009 World Champion likely leaving the team.

It is pretty much confirmed that Nico Rosberg has signed with the team, however no statement has been released to that effect – in addition to this Mercedes are apparently only keen to have Nick Heidfeld in the 2nd drivers seat for 2010, with Mercedes boss Norbert Haug confirming that they are pursuing the German driver.

This leaves Jenson Button without a seat in 2010, with his move to McLaren even more likely.

The knock on effect of all of this is ultimately Kimi Raikkonen will not be driving in Formula 1 in 2010. Raikkonen had previously stated that he would only drive for McLaren in 2010, but at a high price. Button in recent weeks has looked the more likely candidate to take the seat for the Woking based team. Raikkonen could look to a Rally drive in 2010, or simply just sit 2010 out.

Mercedes will continue to supply engines to McLaren, despite this buy out of Brawn GP. Ross Brawn will remain as Team Principal of the team, owning 25% of the team with Nick Fry.

In very interesting news this morning it is being strongly rumoured in the British press that Mercedes Benz will buy a 75% stake in Brawn GP, and with that deal launch an all German driver lineup, leaving Jenson Button without a team.

Mercedes have long been a bit upset with their current number 1 team McLaren after they decided to use their own engines in their new road car. Mercedes powered Brawn to their championship wins in 2009 and have been closely linked to a bigger deal with the Brackley outfit for some time.

According to reports, Mercedes also want an all German lineup for their new number 1 team, with Nico Rosberg and Nick Heidfeld taking the seats, leaving the negotiating Jenson Button out in the cold.

As reported earlier in the week, Button and his management had been spotted at McLaren HQ in Woking earlier in the week, with rumours of a possible move alongside Lewis Hamilton getting stronger by the day. Brawn are also reported to not be willing to pay the wage that the new world champion is asking for, wheras a team like McLaren with big pockets should be able to pick up.

Lotus F1 have announced today that they have signed their first driver for 2010, however have yet to release the name of said driver.

Tony Fernandes, via social media website Twitter announced:

“One Malaysia formula one team aka lotus has signed it’s first driver. Public announcement soon. The dream continues.”

In recent weeks Jarno Trulli has been strongly linked with a move to the new team, since Toyota’s demise, and CTO Mike Gascoigne hardly denying that they were interested in the driver. Lotus have also stated that they’re looking for experienced drivers in order to move the team forward with development, rather than cheaper rookie drivers.