F1 Fanatic

I agree that Senna will probably leave Williams. I hope he’ll find somewhere else, but I’m sure where. Bottas will take his place alongside Maldonado.
McLaren seems stable.
Ferrari will likely drop Massa, barring a massive turn in fortune.
Red Bull will keep their line-up, wanting to take more time deciding between the Toro Rosso drivers.
Toro Rosso will stay the same.
Lotus will stay the same.
Sauber will lose Perez to Ferrari. Kobayashi will stay, Gutierez will come in.
Mercedes will be Rosberg and Di Resta.
Force India will be Hulk and Wickens.
Caterham will remain the same.
As will Virgin.
HRT possibly likewise.

I’ve heard rumours that Kamui Kobayashi’s seat is under threat…
and Heikki Kovalainen could replace him

to be fair… it is originally from German Auto Motor und Sport
story I saw it on: http://www.f1zone.net/news/lotus-drivers-safe-vergne-and-kobayashi-not/14560/

AMuS has a history of being very reliable. I wouldn’t be surprised. I wasn’t impressed with Kobayashi (as a package) in 2009, and he has failed to convince me otherwise throughout 2010, 2011 or 2012 so far.

It would be interesting though. What if we see 2013 Sauber fielding Perez and Kovalainen, and Perez gets whalloped? Would that open the frame for a Kovalainen Ferrari drive?

@Kingshark yes, but “I highly doubt” is hardly in any way factual. If people told you in November 2008 that Jenson Button would move to McLaren and be able to beat Lewis over a season, many people would’ve said to you, “I highly doubt that.”

Personally I think it could happen.

I personally rate Heikki higher than I do Webber, and in my mind it’s clear that Heikki would be one Ferrari would look out for. I doubt Heikki would work with Fernando, but I don’t doubt Ferrari would look at Heikki.

I personally doubt, too, that Heikki would consider Sauber, nor Sauber Heikki. It’s not in Sauber’s habits to hire an “established” driver. de la Rosa was the last one, really. On the flipside I don’t think Heikki is going to accept a Sauber offer either. But it makes for a good hypothetical.

Okay, a bit of an out-there one given a few recent rumours:

Ferrari
1 – Alonso
2 – Vettel

Ferrari dump Massa and pick up Vettel after Vettel is particularly impressed at the way the team turns the F2012 around when Red Bull fail to do the same for the RB8.

Red Bull (Renault)
3 – Webber
4 – Vergne

With the loss of Vettel, Red Bull are forced to keep Webber. Vergne is drafted in after he beats Ricciardo in the 2012 season standings.

Lotus (Renault)
5 – Grosjean
6 – Korjus

Raikkonen leaves after a falling-out with the team (as hinted at in Monaco). Lotus pick up Korjus from Formula Renault 3.5 as his replacement.

McLaren (Mercedes)
7 – Button
8 – Perez

McLaren cannot hold onto Hamilton, who is initially rumoured for a Red Bull seat. They take Perez after Ferrari offer their vacant seat to Vettel, making Perez a free agent.

Mercedes
9 – Rosberg
10 – Wickens

Schumacher finally scores a win in 2012, but decides to re-retire. Unimpressed by Force India’s lineup, Mercedes take a chance on Robert Wickens.

Sauber (Ferrari)
11 – Kobayashi
12 – Petrov

Roman Abraumovich’s investment in the team paves the way for a Russian driver to join Sauber, with the money intended to build on the team’s 2012 promise.

Williams (Renault)
14 – Hamilton
15 – Bottas

Maldonado and Senna are fired after they cannot keep the car out of the walls. Sir Frank scores a coup with Hamilton, promising to let him build the team around him.

Force India (Mercedes)
16 – di Resta
17 – Merhi

After a disappointing season for the team, Hulkenberg is cut loose. Mercedes place Roberto Merhi at the team instead.

Toro Rosso (Ferrari)
18 – Ricciardo
19 – Kvyat

With Vergne moving on to Red Bull, Toro Rosso take Daniil Kvyat instead. The appointment is expected to be temporary, with many predicting Kvyat will replace Vergne in 2014.

Caterham (Renault)
20 – Kovalainen
21 – Rossi

Petrov’s departure paves the way for Alexander Rossi to join the team.

Marussia (Cosworth)
22 – Glock
23 – Haryanto

Success! Marussia finally beat HRT, but the merry-go-round of drivers in the second seat continues, with Charles Pic dumped in favour of Rio Haryanto.

??? (Cosworth)
24 – Maldonado
25 – Pic

Pedro de la Rosa quits in disgust when HRT are banned for three races after knowingly using brakes that would not last a full race, thereby endangering their drivers. The team takes two pay drivers.

I honestly don’t think there will be anywhere near that much change.
My tips are:
Massa gets dumped and is either replaced by Webber or Kovalainen. Don’t know who would replace Webber, it wouldn’t be one of the STR drivers. Rossi would replace Kovalainen.
Hamilton might leave McLaren. He could go to Mercedes or Williams. diResta would replace him.
Schumacher might retire. diResta would replace him too.
Senna will be replaced by Bottas.
Bianchi will replace diResta.

For the better of F1, my wishlist for 2013 would be:
Robert Wickens, Valtteri Bottas, Robert Merhi, and Alexander Rossi get a drive.
Bruno Senna and Narain Karthikeyan loose their drive.
I also want both Schumacher and De La Rosa out, not because they are bad drivers (obviously not in Michael’s case), but rather because they are simply getting old.