Thank god for that. No longer will we need to start a silly season article with the words "Alonso" "will" "Ferrari" "go" and "to". Not as we probably ever did, but anyway. Alonso has been confirmed at the Scuderia for 2010 after approximately 11 years of flirtation, so good luck to him. He'll be partnered by Felipe Massa, with Giancarlo Fisichella putting his feet up and collecting a driver's salary for turning up for the odd sponsor event as the team's "reserve driver". Luca Badoer is missing, presumed unhappy.
That move is likely to be followed by three nailed-on big moves, with Kimi Raikkonen eschewing the lure of the WRC for another year or so, and instead rejoining his former friends at Team Hamilton. Robert Kubica is also set to flee the oddly-funded husk of BMW Sauber and take over Alonso's moulded seat at Renault.
The other major move will see Rubens Barrichello turfed out of likely championship winners Brawn in favour of the shock-haired locks of Nico Rosberg, who will glide into the newly Mercedes-emblazoned team with his natty German accent and sultry hips. All of which leaves a ludicrously strong-looking line up at the front of the 2010 grid, as Alonso/Massa take on Hamilton/Raikkonen, Vettel/Webber, Button/Rosberg and Kubica/erm...Grosjean. Roll on 2010!
The big losers in all this, apart from anybody with even a vague interest in a team other than those five, are Barrichello and Heikki Kovalainen, both of whom, having been bumped off the entry list for the VIP album signing event, will have to scratch around in the bargain bin near the corner of the shop, hoping to stumble across a New Pornographers box set for a fiver. Or a drive with Lotus.
Having said that, Barrichello suddenly looks a shoe-in for Williams, with the team set to decide between the Boobens and BMW refugee Nick Heidfeld for their "experienced car developer" to partner their rookie superstar Nico Hulkenburg, who will get the nod for the second seat over F2 champion Andy Soucek unless Sir Frank has completely lost it in his later years.
Red Bull have had their driver line up sewn up for some time, and sister team Toro Rosso want to cut their losses and leave silly season as soon as possible as well, with Franz Tost saying that he is happy to keep Sebby Buemi and Jamie Alguersuari in his cars for 2010, and with the new teams, they might even end up in the midfield.
Elsewhere in the grid, the new Malaysian "Lotus" team have remained fairly quiet on their driver ideas, though worryingly have been courting former Minardi disaster Alex Yoong, albeit on an "advisory" basis. They do want a homegrown Malaysian driver though, and so sometime A1GP man Fairuz Fauzy could get the nod for one of the seats.
Force India's Vijay Mallya is almost certain to keep Adrian Sutil on for another season after the loss of Giancarlo Fisichella, and also because he's an awesome driver and everything. Tonio Liuzzi is also the favourite for the second seat, but his hopes will rest on proving himself over the remaining three races of the season, after a decent-enough debut for the team at Monza, a track he knew, and then an anonymous drive at the back at Singapore, a track he didn't.
As for the rest, USF1 may be the best option for Jacques Villeneuve, who is getting so desperate to return to F1 it's almost becoming embarrassing to hear him big himself up, though that team is still far from certain of being there, with endless rumours drifting around the FIA that they're really unhappy with the progress Peter Windsor's team are making at their factory. Toyota may well also not be around in 2010, leaving Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock on the streets and begging for a drive at whatever becomes of BMW Sauber with their new Qadbak investment, who may well also keep on Heidfeld if they actually get a spot on the grid.
Finally, Manor boss John Booth has said he wouldn't be completely against allowing shamed Brazilian Nelson Piquet Jr into one of his cars, although Virgin bosses have said that there's no chance they want a dirty cheat like him near their lovely new "Virgin F1" cars, and Campos Grand Prix are a potential target for Bruno Senna or GP2 man Vitaly Petrov in one seat, while they're still courting Pedro de la Rosa for their other car.
So there we go. The Alonso story may be over, but there's still plenty to be decided on the 2010 F1 grid. It's just that none of it is as interesting.
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