Three F1 rumours before Christmas

F1’s rumour mill is refusing to idle, even in the last days before Christmas.

One rumour has been triggered by former McLaren driver and lead British television commentator Martin Brundle, writing on his Twitter page.

"(I) suspect Vitaly Petrov may re-emerge at Caterham in 2012," he wrote, amid earlier rumours Jarno Trulli could lose his seat. "Music has stopped, there’ll be a mad scramble for seats."

In the pages of Spanish newspaper AS, meanwhile, Toro Rosso refugee Jaime Alguersuari is being linked to the reserve driver role at Mercedes for 2012.

And multiple international reports in recent days have galvanised rumours that Ferrari junior driver Jules Bianchi is to replace Nico Hulkenberg as Force India’s Friday practice driver.