Of the five new teams expected to enter Formula One next season, three have named drivers while all are progressing in their efforts to make the grid. Today, Virgin F1 (originally Manor House) was the second of the new teams to announce a complete driver lineup. At the sharp end of the grid, Mercedes GP appear to have a familiar face coming in as their lead driver.

Virgin had previously announced that ex-Toyota driver Timo Glock would be one of their drivers in 2010. Today, they announced that GP2 standout Lucas Di Grassi will join the team as its second driver. Di Grassi has spent the last four years in GP2, finishing in the top three for the last three seasons. He may not quite be championship material but that’s not what a brand new team needs. In Di Grassi, Virgin has found a competent and consistent driver that has experience testing F1 cars for Honda and Renault as well as development work on the latest generation of GP2 race cars. It’s this testing and development experience that makes Di Grassi a good fit for Virgin.

It should also be noted that while the team had been listed on the latest FIA entry list, Virgin only officially confirmed their take over of Manor GP today. They had entered Formula One last season as a sponsor of Brawn GP. Brawn’s early season success made sponsorship space on the car a hot commodity and Virgin wasn’t willing to pay a premium price to be posted on a team without a proven track record.

Yesterday, Lotus F1 (or the Malaysian group that bought the rights to the Lotus F1 name) announced both their drivers for the 2010 season. They went for a lineup that should be the second most experienced on the grid when the F1 circuit kicks off in Bahrain in March. Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen will be racing for Lotus starting in 2010. The experienced lineup will help Lotus with testing and development of their car. However, despite 18 seasons and 270 races between them, they combine for two grand prix wins. Race craft will be the major challenge for Lotus next year. They can have the best car on the grid but no one that can run it.

The three other new teams (Campos, US F1, and Sauber) have only one driver announced between them. Campos will have Bruno Senna in one seat. Both Campos and US F1 are said to be down to shortlists of five drivers or less that they are pursuing. Sauber is the only team that has yet to be connected to any drivers. However, they are likely the furthest along in car development. Even after BMW pulled the plug on its F1 efforts, the team was developing a 2010 so they would be ready to go if they were purchased. The team ended up being sold back to Peter Sauber and are a lock to be regular points contenders if they can hire some decent drivers.

Meanwhile, at the fast end of the grid, Mercedes GP (the former Brawn GP) appears to have gotten their man after some 15 years of waiting. A report out of Britain says that seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher will come out of retirement to drive for Mercedes. The winningest driver in F1 history has long been coveted by Mercedes-Benz bosses. In addition to being a German legend, he started his career in the Mercedes driver development system. It’s almost a full circle thing that Mercedes would be able to pull off if he has in fact signed.