Just because nothing is happening on track during Formula One’s annual summer vacation, doesn’t mean the sport has shut down entirely. The factories may be forced to shut down for two weeks during the four weeks between races but drivers and team principals are in the midst of the annual silly season spin cycle. Rumours are abound of drivers returning, switching teams, and moving up into F1. Not to mention the renewed feud between Ferrari and Williams.

There are some doings a transpiring over Michael Schumacher’s return to F1. Schumi drove the F2007 last week to see if he would be able to handle driving an F1 car at speed after a motorcycle race accident earlier in the year. Now Ferrari, never willing to give up an opportunity to get better, decided to apply for an exemption to the testing so they could put Michael in this year’s car to make sure he is fit enough to run the race. So, if the F2007 test was for “fitness evaluation,” why would he need the test in the new car?

Red Bull and Toro Rosso vetoed the test because they said that they wanted a test for Jaime Alguersuari and were turned down. A good reason if it was true. We would have heard about it if they wanted to test him. Williams also vetoed the test because it could. Actually, they said that Ferrari should have used one of their reserve drivers which I don’t think would make a difference in terms of asking for a test. Ferrari took the denial in stride saying on their website that a Schumi test was blocked by a team that hasn’t won anything for years and is demonstrating a lack of spirit of fair play.

I can see both teams’ point of view. Williams is right when they say that test/reserve drivers are there for a reason. But Ferrari brings up a fair point in trying to get a new driver some seat time. F1 should bring back some testing with the new cost reductions. It’s not like they’ll go broke doing some testing. That’s not to say that all restrictions should come off testing. I think teams should get something like 500 or so miles per season of testing at tracks not the current season’s calendar with a nominated test/reserve driver with race drivers getting something like 200 miles each. Teams could use that to get a rough evaluation of new parts or to familiarize a new driver without having massive testing expenses.

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Folks going to the Singapore GP are in for a treat. Bernie’s got a new money-making scheme F1 cross-promotional platform. F1 Rocks is a concert series that supposedly mixes racing and music. Acts appearing at the first concert include the Black Eyed Peas, Beyonce, and ZZ Top. Based on the promotional video, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see Lady Gaga and the Pussycat Dolls at the concert as well. I don’t really see how F1 and music mix in anyway that benefits them both. In NASCAR, at least, concerts are a part of the weekend. Either Bernie has found a way to refill his bank accounts or he realized that he’s behind NASCAR in one form of glitz and glamour.

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Alright, it’s silly season time. Let’s start with this piece of news: Nelson Piquet Jr. is out at Renault immediately and will likely be replaced by Romain Grosjean. No matter when Renault runs next, Piquet won’t be driving. That other guy at Renault, Fernando Alonso, is (believed to be) on his way out to Ferrari in 2010. Spanish bank Satander is expect to follow Alonso to Ferrari like it did when he went to McLaren. In fact, Satander is believed to have an option to take over title sponsorship of Scuderia Ferrari from Marlboro in 2011. Robert Kubica is the name most often associated with Alonso’s vacant seat at Renault.

Meanwhile, next season may feature only 12 teams after BMW’s withdrawal from the sport. Peter Sauber and Mario Theissen were rumoured to be negotiating a Brawn GP-style purchase of the team but Sauber said that BMW’s asking price is too high.

Elsewhere, the BMW withdrawal is expected to have a massive domino effect on the rest of the grid. Nick Heidfeld is a free agent and could go anywhere. I would expect him to go to Williams or Manor but Brawn could be interested. Nico Rosberg could stay at Williams but I would expect him to end up at McLaren. I would imagine that Heikki Kovalainen ends up as the odd man out unless he ends up at a new team or whatever BMW Sauber becomes. Though he’s not as out of the loop as Rubens Barrichello. Rubens’ season at Brawn has shown that he is (again) a clear #2 to Button. I would expect him to either step out of the driver’s seat on his own terms or get pushed.

A couple a new drivers are also being tipped for drives with established teams. Bruno Senna was expected to drive at Brawn/Honda heading into the season and very well could replace Barrichello in 2010. Nico Hulkenberg has taken charge of GP2 in his rookie season. I would expect him to have a race seat somewhere and I think that it will be with Williams.

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New details and rumours are floating around USF1. First, it has been disclosed that the big investor in the team in YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley. Also, American electronics retailer Best Buy is interested in sponsoring the team as they begin their expansion into Europe. Meanwhile, there are some rumours floating around about the driver situation at USF1. It seems as though sporting director Peter Windsor has opened up to the possibility of having an experienced foreign-born driver for one car and having a rookie American driver in the other. The front-runner for the first seat is Alex Wurz, though Jacques Villeneuve’s name has come up. As for the second seat, drivers rumoured for the drive include Jonathon Summerton, Graham Rahal, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti, and Danica Patrick. However, Patrick has apparently turned down F1 despite rumours that she’s still in the running for the seat.

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In other new team news, it looks like Campos F1 is coming along nicely en route to kicking off the 2010 season. They are currently pursuing Spanish oil company Repsol to sponsor the team. That would fit in well with the Spanish team who will run Spanish driver Pedro de la Rosa. Also, Manor is believed to be getting Virgin backing. This would seem to contradict Richard Branson’s desire of getting a cheap sponsorship deal with a competitive team. He should have put more money into Brawn while he had the chance. Then again, with the way the last few races have gone, he could be getting out at just the right time.

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The 2010 season calendar picture is slowly coming together now that a new Concorde Agreement has been signed. There are a few question marks surrounding current grand prixs. Hockenheim says it can’t afford to host a race and the Nurburgring is looking for a reduced sanctioning fee or it might drop the race. The Japanese GP was due to be held at Fuji but they can’t afford to hold it now. We’re waiting to find out of Suzuka will take over hosting the GP full time again. Donington Park was supposed to kick off a 17-year deal to host the British GP in 2010 but has had trouble securing funding. They’re supposed to ready to go for the GP but Bernie has said that Silverstone could end up hosting the race instead or in alternating years. Of course, there is always a chance that Bernie could throw races off the calendar. From the looks of things, the Germans could be without a race next season. However, given the success of Sebastian Vettel this season, I think a German race would be in F1’s best interests.

Meanwhile, there will be one new and one returning GP on the 2010 schedule. South Korea will host its first ever GP at a new circuit on the edge of Yeongam Lake. Surprise, surprise, this track was designed by Hermann Tilke who is also the designer of Sepang, Shanghai, Bahrain, Istanbul, and Abu Dhabi and designed revisions to Barcelona, Nurburgring, Fuji, and Donington. With the exception of Istanbul, everything that Tilke touches turns to shit. Another boring GP is just what F1 needs.

Fortunately, Bernie has balanced the Tilke-ization of F1 by confirming the return of the Canadian GP at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. The Canadian GP is always action packed and unpredictable. Expect lots of passes, lots of crashes, and a few safety cars. Teams love this race because it’s the only North American stop so it’s good to help find sponsors and justify manufacturers putting money into an F1 team. Oh, and there’s the fact that Montreal throws the biggest and best parties of the F1 season. I wonder if Raikkonen will move to Montreal when he retires. We know he’ll love it.

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We’re now about 13 days from the next round of the F1 World Championship. The second European GP at Valencia can’t be much worse than last year’s. Well, I guess if there isn’t a safety car to mix things up, it could get worse. Fortunately, we have two massive storylines heading into what could be an otherwise dreary race. First, the Renault ban for Alonso’s wheel coming off in Hungary. Race organizers and the Spanish press are pushing for the ban to be withdrawn because a race without Alonso could destroy late ticket sales. The boss of the Valencia street circuit said that he was told by all sides involved that Alonso would be racing. The second storyline is the more intriguing one. Michael Schumacher returns to F1 to replace the injured Felipe Massa. We’re all interested to see how he does in his first time in this car and at this track. I’m also interested in how Kimi Raikkonen will react because needs to be motivated to drive his fastest and competing with Michael could be the kick in the ass that he needs.