Much to play for in Silly Season with 11 seats available

Teams that have their 2019 driver line-up sorted include Mercedes with Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, Red Bull have confirmed Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly, Renault have Daniel Ricciardo alongside Nico Hulkenberg.

Sebastian Vettel's teammate at Ferrari next season is increasingly likely to be Charles Leclerc although one would have to expect Kimi Raikkonen to be a viable alternative. The politics in this one seem very complex.

Force India or Racing Point or whatever they will be called are certain to field Lance Stroll, while his partner is expected to be Sergio Perez, although Esteban Ocon remains an option.

According to Red Bull chiefs, they have several options for their Toro Rosso junior team. Brendon Hartley has not impressed enough to be guaranteed a drive, his only saving grace is that the Red Bull junior driver pipeline has dried up. He may get an extension...

Meanwhile, the latest contender for Gasly's seat is Toro Rosso's prodigal son Daniil Kvyat, the Russian apparently a contender for a return to the grid with the Faenza based outfit as confirmed first by Christian Horner and now by driver consultant Helmut Marko.

Also in the wings are that kid Ocon while Stoffel Vandoorne has also been bandied about as a possibility.

Reports last month in French media suggested that also under consideration by Marko are their former drivers Sebastien Buemi and Jean-Eric Vergne.

Motorsport Network quote Marko saying of the Kvyat to Toro Rosso option, “I would say he is more mature but we are not in a hurry with Toro Rosso. We will solve our driver problems. We have a big list of names and we’ll see.”

Sauber are keen to hang on to their two drivers, Marcus Ericsson is having a better season and his minders own the team so he is likely to remain. Leclerc is an obvious choice to stay, but if Ferrari come knocking the Swiss outfit will be looking for a driver.

Reuniting Vandoorne with Frederic Vasseur, Sauber F1 team principal, who oversaw the Belgian's meteoric GP2 campaigns in which he finished runner-up in his rookie season then claimed the title a year later, igniting his hot property tag that has no run out of steam and is in need of reigniting.

Sauber have stated that Vabdoorne does not feature in their plans for next year.

At Haas, Kevin Magnussen has done enough to convince them they should hang on to him for at least another year. On the other side of the garage, the same cannot be said of Romain Grosjean whose F1 future is shaky, to say the least for well-documented reasons.

Haas insist Ferrari do not have a say in their driver choice but Maranello groomed and backed Antonio Giovanazzi is on the radar and may well be a contender, but so would Leclerc for that matter.

Also on the radar is Sergio Perez who claims he already has a deal in place for 2019, but has yet to reveal where he will be and Haas is not such a far-fetched option. The Mexican brings along a fair wad of backing and has the experience to take the team forward.

Anything can happen at any time in this crazy Silly Season, with a few surprises in store as the game of Formula 1 musical chairs intensifies.