An increasing trend for ‘pay drivers’ in formula one is casting a pall over the futures of many of the sport’s existing names.

Even Rubens Barrichello, the most experienced driver in the sport’s history, is having to wait for Williams to evaluate the talent of the well-funded new GP2 champion Pastor Maldonado in Abu Dhabi later this month.

“I’m talking deeply with Williams and nobody else. My feeling is that I will be here next year,” he said confidently on Thursday.

His teammate Nico Hulkenberg is less confident.

“What can I say?” said the 23-year-old German, who stands to lose his seat after just a single season in F1.

“It is very hard and it’s very unfortunate and disappointing that formula one is in the situation again of pay drivers.”

Adrian Sutil, with $5m in backing from the German electronics brand Medion, was also thought a contender for the Williams seat but it is now expected he is staying with Force India.

Nick Heidfeld had hoped Sutil’s move might open up a rare vacancy in an F1 paddock still feeling the effect of a shortage of sponsors and the global financial crisis.

When asked about his situation regarding 2011, he answered on Thursday: “It’s about others, about politics and about money.”

Heidfeld agrees with Hulkenberg that pay-drivers are wielding more influence today than in the recent past.

“It’s massively worse than it was a few years ago — if I brought money, I would be easily in formula one (in 2011),” said the 33-year-old.

A trio of German drivers are the subject of speculation about their future on the formula one grid.

Nico Hulkenberg might be concerned about his career ending after just a single season, with Williams believed to be considering replacing him with the well-funded new GP2 champion Pastor Maldonado.

“At the moment there is no news and I am not concerned,” the German insisted at Suzuka.

“I want to stay and generally things look well in that respect,” added Hulkenberg.

Another question-mark hangs above Adrian Sutil, although his career looks much more secure.

Switzerland’s Blick newspaper thinks the German might have signed a new deal with Force India for 2011, with an out-clause in the event that Michael Schumacher opens up a place at Mercedes by returning to retirement.

“No comment at the moment really,” Sutil, who has also been linked with Renault, said in Japan.

“I don’t want to wait too long until I make my decision but I will probably make it very soon.”

According to APA news agency, a Mercedes spokesman denied that the German squad has warned Schumacher that he needs to up his pace in order to guarantee his race seat.

The 41-year-old German also sounded keen to fulfil the next two seasons of his contract.

“It is a long term project,” said the German at Suzuka.  “If you think of how long it took to have success with Benetton and with Ferrari, it wasn’t in the short term.”

Timo Glock has admitted he is keeping his “eyes open” as the 2011 driver market unfolds.

The German revealed earlier this year that he opted to switch to Virgin even though Renault and Sauber were also options.

Glock, 27, said that at the time he made his choice, the futures of the aforementioned teams looked much dicier than Virgin’s, the struggling new British team.

“I’m keeping my eyes open,” he is quoted by Auto Bild Motorsport, in a report that also said Force India was an option for the former Toyota driver.

Glock admits life at the back of the grid has been “hard”.

“You can’t think to yourself, ‘oh, I could be sitting in that car now!’  The situation is what it is and you have to make the most of it, otherwise you can’t perform to your best.

“So I try to ignore the other 18 cars.  For me it’s a world championship with Lotus, and simply that is how I motivate myself,” he explained.

(GMM)

Jun.8 (GMM)  Franz Tost believes F1 teams should still be able to run a ‘customer car’ acquired from active competitors.

Since the Faenza based team was sold by Minardi in 2005, and until last year, Toro Rosso raced a chassis based on the car fielded by sister team Red Bull Racing.

But in 2010, due to a rule clarification, the team had to build up its Italian base and staff in order to design and construct its own car, the current Ferrari-powered STR5.

“Nevertheless, I am of the opinion that this rule is wrong,” team boss Tost is quoted in the latest edition of Auto Bild Motorsport.

“With an intensive collaboration between two teams, you could cut the budget in half,” adding that the lower half of the grid would also be more competitive.

However, Tost is also happy with the current situation, with Red Bull owning and operating two separate teams.

“It works perfectly: Red Bull going for the world championship, and Toro Rosso working with the next generation.

“Our current drivers Sebastien Buemi and Jamie Alguersuari are on the right track and have great futures,” added the Austrian.

Tost also thinks team owner Dietrich Mateschitz is happy.

“At the moment I don’t see any signs of a sale.  In the (finance company) Money Service Group from Liechtenstein we also have our first own sponsor,” he said.

Felipe Massa insists he is not being affected by the speculation predicting his Ferrari tenure will end this season.

The Brazilian’s contract runs out this year, and amid rumours that Robert Kubica could be set to replace him in 2011, 29-year-old Massa is currently struggling to match the pace of his new teammate Fernando Alonso.

“For sure I am happy to stay (at Ferrari) if they want me, I trust Ferrari and in the end I have no interest in what people are saying.

“What I care about is working hard and fixing things as quickly as possible,” Italian reports quote him as saying.

Corriere dello Sport suggested that Massa might be headed to Red Bull next year, to replace the possibly retiring Barcelona winner Mark Webber.

“In this world you hear so many things every week and every month,” said Massa, who became Michael Schumacher’s last Ferrari teammate in 2006.

The Massa/Red Bull rumour comes in the wake of Lewis Hamilton’s assertion two months ago that 33-year-old Webber might retire at the end of 2010.

It is further rumoured that while Kimi Raikkonen was earlier expected to return to F1 in Webber’s place next year, the 2007 world champion might in fact be content to prolong his new world rallying foray.

To Sydney’s Sun-Herald newspaper, Australian Webber has once again played down the Hamilton comments.

“They came about from when we were on a plane together back from the Japanese grand prix last year,” he revealed.

“We were talking about getting the timing right in terms of retirement, in sport in general.  When I do call it a day – and I really don’t think that it will be at the end of this year – I want to do so on a good note.

“But I’m driving well enough and I believe I can still bring a lot to the plate in the next year or so — meaning next year,” Webber insisted.  “I’ve got a few years in me yet.”

(GMM)