Only four seats remain on 2016 Formula 1 grid

With Jenson Button confirmed for 2016 by McLaren, only four seats remain available on the Formula 1 grid for next season.

With the advent of Mercedes power for Manor, announced today, the backmarker team - which could well take a big leap up the pecking order next year - now has two highly desirable seats available.

However smart money has it that the team now is the unofficial Mercedes junior team, and as a result their highly rated DTM star Pascal Wehrlein is most likely to fill one of the two available seats.

Romain Grosjean's departure to Haas F1 Team means that a highly coveted seat is now up for grabs at Lotus, which by the end of the year is set to morph into a Renault works operation.

With Pastor Maldonado confirmed at Enstone for at least another season, it would be no surprise if a Frenchman will be sought to fill the second cockpit and Jean Eric-Vergne would be a logical candidate.

The all new Haas outfit, being dubbed the Ferrari B-team, has a seat to fill beside Grosjean. With an American driver not on their action plan, Esteban Gutierrez is apparently being considered, but it appears the team has options beyond the well funded Mexican and are thus holding out on confirming their second driver.

An interesting scenario that may emerge is the highly unlikely scenario that Red Bull pull the plug on their F1 projects at the end of this season by withdrawing both their teams and focusing on other projects with the existing resources.

This would leave four highly rated drivers - Daniel Ricciardo, Daniil Kvyat, Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz - without jobs, while the spectre of the F1 grid depleted by four cars would be a major blow to the sport and could well trigger the third car option for teams wanting and capable of adding an extra car to their arsenal.

Interesting times lie ahead in the not too distant future, meanwhile the provisional 2016 Formula 1 World Championship entry list is:
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Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton
Nico Rosberg
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Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel
Kimi Raikkonen
-
Williams
Felipe Massa
Valtteri Bottas
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Red Bull
Daniel Ricciardo
Daniil Kvyat
(Both Under Contract To Red Bull)
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Force India
Nico Hulkenberg
Sergio Perez
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Lotus
Pastor Maldonado

Second Driver To Be Confirmed
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Toro Rosso
Carlos Sainz
Max Verstappen
(Both Under Contract To Red Bull)
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Sauber
Marcus Ericsson
Felipe Nasr
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McLaren
Fernando Alonso
Jenson Button
-
Manor Marussia
Both Drivers To Be Confirmed
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Haas F1
Romain Grosjean
Second Driver To Be Confirmed