Although it will come as a surprise to no one Nico Rosberg was officially announced as a Mercedes GP driver for the 2010 F1 season. The 24 yr old Germans announcement comes as no surprise as he was predicted to make to move since he announced his departure from Williams in October.

"No other brand in Formula 1 can look back on such a long and successful tradition in motor racing. I am very proud that I will now drive for the new Mercedes team and work with Ross Brawn.

"I am more motivated than ever and can hardly wait to start testing with the new Silver Arrow and for the first race of the new season at Bahrain in March."

Ross Brawn who will continue as team principal after the Mercedes buy out seems confident in the abilities that Rosberg has.

"Nico is a great talent, and with four years of experience in Formula 1, is a driver who will be able to make a valuable contribution to our team right from the outset.

"2009 was Nico's best season in Formula 1 to date and we look forward to seeing his development continue with us at Mercedes next year."

Rosberg's team mate has yet to be announced but it seems likely that it will be fellow German Nick Heidfeld although there is still talk of Kimi Raikkonen and even Michael Schumacher filling the remaining seat.

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has said that Silverstone has until December 9 to agree to a contract to host the 2010 British Grand Prix otherwise no British Grand Prix will be held for the season. December 9 is the date when the Formula One commission meet to finalise the 2010 calender.

Eccelstone said "They had a contract in place that they could have signed if they'd wanted to but they haven't. At the moment there is no British Grand Prix."

Ross Brawn is in no hurry to fill the last available Mercedes GP seat as he say it is 'most attractive' to any top driver. Brawn GP which has been renamed Mercedes GP after Daimler bought controlling interest in the racing outfit has yet to announce any of there drivers. Nico Rosberg is believed to have already signed on for the 2010 season which leave one empty seat available.

Brawn believes that any top driver in F1 will wait before signing any contracts with other teams. Brawn said "I believe the open race-seat with us is the most attractive seat on the market." With the McLaren line up now confirmed as well as the Ferrari and Red Bull drivers the last Mercedes seat is the only seat available remaining at the top 4 2009 teams.

Recent reports have suggested that seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher is holding preliminary talks with Mercedes GP to make a comeback for the 2010 season. This would reunite him with Ross Brawn whom together won titles at Benetton and Ferrari.

The deal would see Schumi earning the same salary that was offered to current World Champion Jenson Button before he left Brawn to defend his title at McLaren. If Schumacher was to sign with Mercedes it would lead to an All-German driver line-up as it is almost certain that fellow German Nico Rosberg has signed on to drive for Mercedes in 2010.

At the moment this can only be called a rumor as Schumacher apparently has a contract with Ferrari to help them with their road car developments.

With Button signing for McLaren and Kimi's manger announcing that they were now focusing on Rally it seemed all hope that Kimi would make the 2010 grid was lost. Now it seems that Raikonnen is willing to consider signing up for Mercedes GP to spearhead their maiden season.

According to Raikonnen's manager Steve Robertson, Kimi is willing to sign for Mercedes as long as they can convince him that he will have a car that is capable of competing for wins and ultimately the world championship. He is also claiming that Raikonnen is not just after the money but is just after a good car to drive.

"Of course, money is a part of it but he doesn't need the money. He wants a car where he can show his talent. He was very frustrated this year by the fact that he could not win more races and challenge for the championship.

"When you have been in F1 for nine years and been a world champion then you need challenges – and for Kimi the challenge is to win championships and races." says Robertson.

It appears as though this may be Raikonnen's last chance last chance to drive in F1 in 2010. If this fails Raikonnen will turn to rallying for next year and then try and secure a top seat for the 2011 F1 championship.

In an interesting turn of events 2009 World Champion Jenson Button has turned his back on his championship winning team Brawn/Mercedes GP and signed with McLaren for a 3 year deal with the Woking based team. Button will be earning £6m a year.

His decision to join McLaren has been considered by some to be career suicide as he will be partnering 2008 World Champion Lewis Hamilton arguably the best driver in F1 at the moment. This will create an All-British line up for McLaren and the first tim in the history of F1 where a team will field the two most recent world champions.

As to the reason why Button would choose to leave the Brackley based team which he has been involved with for the last 7 years is still not certain. He is leaving a team which would have been built around him and entering a team which has been built around the McLaren star Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes buyout of Brawn seems to have pushed Button out the door.

Recent reports have suggested that Mercedes GP had offered Button £8m salary for next season with £4m for points bonuses. This is clearly more money then he will earn driving for McLaren but it seems that Button had breached his contract when he decided to visit the McLaren headquarters earlier this week. This may have been the reason why the Brawn management had become disenchanted by their World Champion and led to the negotiations breaking down.