Recently, I have noticed a growing trend in the motorsport world. As Formula 1 was rocked by concerns over it’s existence during 2009 and the global recession put pressure on the auto industry, drivers started to become edgy. Unsettled even. Eying greener pastures, shifting in their racing seats and taking bold moves.

What's happening to team loyalty? Back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, you stayed with your team until the bosses kicked you out! Now those same bosses are begging drivers to stay and scrambling to bring up younger drivers to replace those who do make the switch.

The surprise return of Michael Schumacher to F1, following a neck injury, a few years ago tops the news. However, this time around he won't be driving his red Ferrari. Instead he'll be climbing into a Mercedes factory team car. The deal to have Schumacher race in a Silver Arrows car was signed towards the end of December.

Each team has begun testing their new cars, perhaps most notably McLaren, allowing significant media access to their testing phases. It appears all the teams are rallying together to get more media coverage, and hopefully more interest from the public.

Kimi Raikkonen, the F1 star who won the World Championship, is now starting to feel more at home in the World Rally Championship under Citroen. He contested several rallies for the team in 2009 and now all signs point to him staying in the driver's seat for the 2010 championship, possibly resulting in a permanent switch from Formula 1 to rally.

He said "I always wanted to compete in rally, especially in the World Rally Championship at some point in my career. Thanks to Red Bull, I have the opportunity to drive the best car of the series with the Citroen C4. This is a new but very exciting challenge. For the moment we have a one year contract and we will see how it goes for the future. I am really looking forward to testing the car and taking the start of the first rally."

Ford is also unleashing their new Fiesta S2000 onto the WRC stages this year and putting Martin Prokop behind the wheel. The 27 year old Czech, Junior WRC World Champion will have his first race with the big boys in Sweden between the 11^th and 14th of February when the WRC kicks off once again.

While speaking very highly of his new car and team, Prokop said "I decided to drive the Fiesta S2000 because it is a great, beautifully built car. I like the way Ford organizes its WRC campaign, as well as the fact it knows how to present its successes and effectively support its customer teams."

Meanwhile, smaller rallies (mainly for the cameras and local fans) have been taking place throughout Europe such as the Citroen French Championship and UK stages.

Sebastian Loeb, who barely scraped by in Wales GB Rally to take the 2009 WRC crown with co-driver Daniel Elena is now being considered to drive in Lemans for Peugeot. He, along with several other drivers were taking part in tests and it will be decided soon whether or not he too will jump between motor sport classes and race in Lemans this summer.

Meanwhile in the Le Mans World, we have yet another shifting driver. Jean-Christophe Boullion, 2005-06 Lemans champion and Vice-Champion in 2009 will make up the fourth driver for the Rebellion team for the 2010 season and will also be at the helm for the 24 Hours of Lemans. While this is said to be high ambitions from the Swiss team in the sport, one can't help but wonder if it's part of the aforementioned trend.

A little birdie also told me that Alex Mac Dowell, the successful Saloon Car racer is considering a move to the MSA British Touring Car Championship after a good debut test drive of a rear wheel drive BMW a few weeks ago. A big change from his small Renault Clio he currently races.

Alex said "The test was fantastic and I want to say a big thank you to everyone at Motorbase for helping things go so smoothly. The BMW is obviously a completely different car to what I've been used to the last couple of years in Renault Clios but I didn't have any problems adapting to the rear wheel drive. The increased grip was one of the biggest differences."

As the 2010 championships get geared up and ready to race, drivers and teams are still moving around all over the place while smaller tournaments are not given their usual spot in the limelight during winter months. Let's hope lasts year's success and professional decorum remains for the first season of a brand new racing decade amongst those who lead the international racing scene.

By Dean Sherwin

Dean is based in Ireland and has extensive writing experience, especially in the area of the auto industry writing car features, reviews and blogs, as well as other cultural and sporting events, and the gaming industry.

http://www.artofstinginess.com- Owner and Editor

www.deansherwin.com Freelance Technology, Culture and Opinion Writer