Much of the gossip of the moment centers on where Mark Webber will be heading for 2007. Frank Williams is in no hurry to sign him up for another season, it seems, and has let his option expire, perhaps with the intention of offering Mark the drive but for less money. Former champion, Alan Jones, has advised Mark to stay put and this might be a good plan, provided he gets the offer. Meanwhile there is the possibility of a drive at McLaren or Renault, although this looks a little unlikely, given the numerous driver options available to those teams.

Much hinges on Kimi Raikkonen’s eventual decision. If he leaves McLaren for Ferrari, Webber’s stock must increase in view of his talent and experience. And, if Kimi goes to Renault, it would make sense for McLaren to take Mark on for the second car alongside Alonso. But, if Kimi stays at McLaren, all bets are off and Mark would do best to stay where he is.

It looks as though Alan Jones is right; Mark should stick with Williams. The chances of a drive with Renault are remote to say the least, especially when we remember Fisichella’s statement that his teammate for 2007 will be a Finn. McLaren already have a star signed up in Alonso and so are most likely to offer the second car to someone they know, Pedro de la Rosa or Gary Paffett. So Mark can do little but wait to see what Frank will offer him.

Formula 1 is perhaps the only sport in which it becomes fairly common for drivers to take a pay cut. I think Ayrton Senna started the trend when he once offered to drive for Williams for nothing. But it is only the stars who can afford to do that; at the back of the grid new drivers are on a pittance and often bring much-needed sponsorship money with them. Webber must have been receiving a good wage at Williams and could afford to settle for less, I would think.

However, if I were Ron Dennis, I’d be thinking seriously about giving the second seat to Webber. Experience counts and his other options can get their experience in lesser teams - their time will come. David Coulthard spent many years with McLaren and always did a sound, competent job for them. Mark Webber could do the same but with the added frisson that he might just prove quicker than we’d thought. His performance in Germany gave some hint at that.

Whatever happens, I hope Mark does not run out of options. It would be a pity if he were to find himself without a decent drive for next year.

I was thinking today about the bland press releases and statements made by F1 teams and their drivers prior to a GP, when it occurred to me that there might be a principle at work here. Is it possible that teams perform in direct inverse proportion to the excitement value of their public pronouncements?

Looking at the press releases, this theory falls down immediately - they are all uniformly berefit of entertainment value and shattering surprises - but there is reason to believe it might hold good for the drivers. Think of all those post-race press conferences (what my young son used to call “the glasses of water”) and the delivery style of the successful three. By my theory, Kimi Raikkonen would be the clear winner, both for flatness of speech and for driving speed (admittedly, he has a huge advantage in being Finnish). Fernando Alonso would be next up and then we could let Michael Schumacher have a look in. It sounds strangely similar to how we rate their driving ability.

Ralf is considerably more animated and probably more truthful than his brother, yet is rated below him on the track. Jacques Villeneuve is outspoken and good for a scandal or two but seems past his best when it comes to driving. And good old David Coulthard can provide us with the control part of our experiment - he is mid-range in everything, solid and dependable in both press conference and race.

Looking back, probably the most entertaining driver in recent years was Johnny Herbert. He was always ready to crack a joke and make light of disasters. Perhaps this happened to him after he mangled his ankles in a pre-F1 accident, thereby forever preventing him from joining the top rank of boring interviewees and fast drivers.

Of course, we must make allowance for the fact that most drivers are not answering in their native tongues; it must be quite difficult to relax and joke when speaking a foreign language. Yet Michael Schumacher manages to be smooth enough in English to convince us that he has a complete grasp of it. And most of the others are fluent enough to have a style.

The native English speakers seem to give the lie to my theory at first glance. Jenson Button can be quite amusing and has even been known to smile for the cameras. But are we seeing a secret unveiled here? Is Jenson really as good a driver as we wish he was? Perhaps Barrichello could give us some answers on that one.

So the theory looks as if it holds true in general. I propose it in jest only but don’t be surprised if you see Frank Williams and Ron Dennis taking more than the usual interest in their drivers’ press conferences in future…