Following the loss of the majority of their F1 team to rivals Sky Sports, reports suggest that former F1 commentators James Allen and Jonathan Legard are among the frontrunners to take over commentary duties for the BBC.
The BBC Sport team are reeling from the loss of a number of key members of their team to the new dedicated Sky Sports F1 channel.
Martin Brundle has already been confirmed at Sky for 2012, and the satellite channel confirmed that pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz would also make the switch.
Meanwhile, the entire BBC Radio commentary team has been lost, with David Croft, Anthony Davidson and pit lane reporter Natalie Pinkham all moving to Sky.
According to a report from the Guardian newspaper, a number of names are already being thrown around as potential replacements for the free-to-air broadcaster, including Legard and Allen.
Legard was the BBC's lead commentator in 2009 and 2010, but proved hugely unpopular with fans thanks to his idiosyncratic style.
Allen, meanwhile, commentated full-time for ITV from 2002 to 2008, but was not retained by the BBC when they regained the rights to show F1 in the UK.
According to the Guardian report, both men are the early frontrunners to take over the role as lead commentator from the departing Brundle.
However, other names are said to be in the mix, including Eurosport MotoGP commentator Toby Moody and ITV's BTCC commentator Ben Edwards.
Edwards was reportedly approached by the BBC for the role back in 2009, but was unwilling to commit to an exclusive BBC contract which would have removed him from his BTCC and other commentary roles.
Meanwhile, the report suggests an odd list of frontrunners to take over from Croft on radio commentary.
The Guardian suggests that John Inverdale, Mark Pougatch and Colin Murray, all known more for presenting rather than commentating, are being considered.
Semi-regular 5Live commentator Maurice Hamilton was also mentioned as a possibility.
The BBC could potentially continue to utilise stand-in co-commentators on the radio as they have done for weekends that have clashed with Davidson's sportscar commitments.
Drivers such as Karun Chandhok, Nico Hulkenberg and Luiz Razia have all enjoyed guest roles as co-commentator for sessions broadcast on BBC radio throughout 2011.
Currently, the only confirmed members of the BBC television team are presenter Jake Humphrey and co-commentator David Coutlhard, along with reporter Lee McKenzine.
However, in one spot of good news on Wednesday, Eddie Jordan reportedly confirmed that he would remain with the BBC for 2012 in an interview on Irish radio station RTE.
The BBC will broadcast ten races live in 2011 as part of their controversial new sharing arrangement with Sky, with the remaining races shown as highlights shortly after the end of the race.
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