Mercedes not announcing Rosberg's replacement until the New Year

It has been announced by the Mercedes team that they will not make any announcements regarding Nico Rosberg's replacement until after the New Year.

Since the 2016 Formula One world champion broke the news of his surprise departure from the sport, Lewis Hamilton has been without a team-mate for the 2017 season.

With many candidates have been tipped to partner Hamilton which include world champions Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, both of whom have already ruled themselves out; Mercedes protégé Pascal Wehrlein, Toro Rosso ace Carlos Sainz; and Williams' Valtteri Bottas, who has emerged as the front runner since the news was announced over two weeks ago.

Williams has declined to comment the Bottas reports so far, while Christian Horner firmly denied any connection to Sainz landing the Mercedes drive.

In a statement to the media today, a spokesperson for the team has firmly announced the driver will not be announced until January.

“There will be no announcements from us until next year and nothing is planned for the period between now and our return to work on 3rd January,” a Mercedes representative told the media today.

Overall, I think the Mercedes team are right to delay the announcement of their second driver until the New Year because let's face it, Rosberg's retirement has left a huge hole that needs to be filled and they got to analyse every option available to them on the grid.

They are the best team on the grid, they need to get the best driver that they possibly can to grow and develop the team into the near future but also without causing any significant problems further on down the grid.

No matter which option the team decide to take, it will affect the team as the new driver will need time to adapt to how the team functions but it will affect the grid especially in the second half with teams such as Manor and Sauber already trying to see which drivers can help them in 2017 (with regards to sponsorship and financial budgets especially).

But what is clear is that maybe Mercedes have chosen their man and due to whatever constraints (for example contractual); they may not be able to announce it until the deal has gone through due diligence or the fact that they want to surprise us when they least expect it- question is which driver will be in that seat? Only time will tell.

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa