With the Formula 1 paddock heading into its ninth race of the season in Germany this weekend, there is still plenty of mileage left in the 2013 season.
But one thing is already clear. A clutch of drivers will be battling for a place to become Sebastian Vettel’s sidekick for the 2014 season now that Mark Webber has chosen to retire.
The Australian showed reasonable pace during his time as Vettel’s team-mate but struggled with the restrictive remit involved in not treading on the triple World Champions toes, without also falling foul of the team’s management.
That is the fate that of the drivers aiming for a place in the second Red Bull cockpit. Let’s take a look at the contenders.
Kimi Raikkonen
The monotonous Lotus driver has been linked with the second Red Bull seat for next season. His form and ability is under no question. He currently sits third in this year’s Championship after also securing a Top Three position in 2012.
In addition he is a good friend of Vettel’s compared to other drivers on the grid, while the Finn has a track record for avoiding the seedy politics within a team.
However there is one issue. A past World Champion, Raikkonen is more than capable of beating Vettel in the same machinery, a possible cause of tension within a team where Vettel demands and expects to be the main man.
As any seasoned observer of Formula 1 knows, friendship is an alien concept especially when it comes to team-mates and if Vettel feels threatened, expect to see his relationship with Raikkonen unravel quickly even if the Finn pays no heed.
Daniel Ricciardo
If Mark Webber had his way, fellow Aussie driver Ricciardo would inherit his chassis. Webber has backed the Toro Rosso man to move up from Red Bull’s F1 feeder team to the main team.
Ricciardo has managed three Top 10 points finishes which leave him 14th in the Championship with 11 points.
The 24-year-old has also shown progress in his third season in the sport by already amassing more points in 2013 than he did in the entirety of 2012.
Ricciardo struggled somewhat early on in the season but qualifying fifth (courtesy of Paul Di Resta’s exclusion) and finishing in a solid eighth at Silverstone has done his chances of a Red Bull seat no harm.
Jean-Eric Vergne
However Ricciardo’s Toro Rosso team-mate is also on Red Bull’s list. In actual fact he heads his Australian team-mate in this year’s Championship with 13 points.
The Frenchman is in his second season in F1 and like Ricciardo, he is on course to surpass his 2012 tally.
23-years-old he is highly regarded and like Ricciardo has the advantage of graduating from Red Bull’s driver academy.
Vergne might not have finished last weekend’s British Grand Prix as one of the drivers who suffered a dangerous left rear puncture, but he did earn a career-best 6th in Canada.
