The music is about to stop and most of the drivers are seated in the yearly game of musical chair that we Grand Prix fans call the silly season. A few major changes occured with some drivers losing out on good rides, but basically things have fallen into place quite reasonably. There still remains some question as to who will be driving for some of the lesser teams, but the top eight teams are almost all confirmed. It should be mentioned right off the top that the unfortuneate loser in all of this is probably Gerhard Berger, who at the moment is still standing as the music fades.

TWR Arrows

Arrows will rely on the talented, but mostly underfunded, Finn Mika Salo along with big money pay-driver Pedro Diniz. For Salo, it's an improved team over woefully under funded Tyrell. As for Diniz, his cash is welcome, especially if the team has to pay in one way or another for better, more reliable power. Arrows should be on track to improve next season, with John Barnard designing next year's car. All in all, both drivers have made a positive step.

Williams

The Williams lineup remains unchanged although there have been rumours "a-plenty" about Frentzen returning to the team. Jacques Villeneuve and Williams both took up their option on each other even though there is doubt regarding whether a Mechachrome engine is really a Renault. That may be a sticking point that has to be resolved as Villeneuve has a much higher retainer if Williams isn't powered by Renault in year three of his contract. Frentzen has shown of late that he can be a capable number two driver and has rewarded Frank Williams' patience with points paying finishes in the last three races. Both drivers did well to retain their seats as Williams is still a prime ride, although there is some doubt about a full season without Adrian Newey as head of design.

Ferrari

Eddie Irvine is the most clear number two driver in F1, but he's happy with that. Luckily, his setup tastes run parallel to Schumacher's, and, he hasn't made any trouble for Ferrari off the race track. These reasons, plus some good performances early in the year, are why Eddie was retained for 1998. Realistically, Eddie is lucky to be rehired considering his recent "less than spectacular" performances and his penchant for getting into trouble on the track.

Benetton

Benetton is taking a page out of Eddie Jordan's book by hiring two young drivers. In fact, they took a driver out of Jordan's team as well. Giancarlo Fisichella is a rising star in Formula One, hence the court battle over his services for 1998. Benetton also did well to secure the race driving services of Alex Wurz. Fisichella has good reason to be upset, though, as Benetton are in a state of flux this season. And, he may have done better with a second year at Jordan. On the other hand, Wurz showed that Benetton could be competitive this season along with revealing Benetton's problems were possibly driver related. It's hard to say whether Benetton can improve next season with so many questions regarding engine, Briatore's role, sponsorship, and ownership yet unanswered. So, while Wurz has done well to secure a full time F1 ride, Fisichella may have taken a slight step backwards.

McLaren

Both Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard must be ecstatic to retain a seat at what could be the most improved team in 1998. Both drivers have performance related bonuses in their contracts that may be very lucrative next season. Perhaps Mika and David have done the best of all drivers looking to secure a seat for 1998. They have what is arguably the best engine in F1, and now they have the best designer as well. In my opinion, Damon Hill made a mistake not signing with McLaren.

Jordan

Hiring Damon Hill might be just what Jordan need: a proven winner. To date, Thierry Boutsen is the only other driver they have ever employed that has even won a Grand Prix. Hill doesn't get a failing grade for his choice of seat, but while Jordan may provide Damon a race winning car, he won't win a Championship for Eddie. Still, things must progress a step at a time. If Jordan can be a race winner next year with Damon Hill, perhaps they aren't that far away from being a consistent race winner.

Prost

Olivier Panis may provide consistency to the Ligier/Prost fold, but clearly they would have benefitted from Damon Hill's or, to a much lesser extent, Jean Alesi's expirience. If Jarno Trulli's option is taken up, I would look for Prost's performance next year to mirror those of Jordan this year: a good team that lacks a proven consistent racewinner. But, they may avoid this should Olivier return to his pre-Canadian GP '97 form. They will have a powerful engine in Peugeot and a decent chassis. If Panis fills the leadership void, they could win the odd race in 1998.

Sauber

Jean Alesi jumped ship from Benetton too soon in hindsight. Both Jordan and Prost would have been better seats, and Jean would have probably gotten full number one status at either team. Sauber may provide Jean with a point scoring car and a more harmonious place to work next season, but a second race win isn't nearly as likely at Sauber as it would have been at Jordan or Prost. As it is, Peter Sauber comes out looking good as Alesi is an improvement over anyone who sat in the second Sauber seat this season.

There is one seat left at each of the other three teams at this point. Minardi have retained Marques, Stewart is happy with Barichello, and Verstappen is still in the Tyrell fold. I wouldn't doubt that the Minardi seat will go to the highest bidder, and Takagi the Tyrell testdriver will be promoted. I'd also imagine that Jan Magnussen is fighting for his life at Stewart. At this time of year if a driver's performance drops off, (or doesn't improve if he's had a disappointing year) he runs the risk of standing on the sidelines when this game of musical chairs stops.