More pieces have slotted into place for the 2012 Formula One grid line-up. They're mainly the exact same pieces in the exact same slots, but nevertheless, that's pretty much all there is to talk about for this particular silly season.
It's been over two months since Patty felt the need to give a run-down of all of the latest stories in the sometimes-chaotic world of Formula One's hectic rumour mill, but as you know by now from reading these silly season reports in 2012, there is a good reason for that.
No, not the fact that we forgot, but more the fact that there is precious little to report. While there are a couple of teams with huge choices to make on the driver front for the 2012 season, all of the drivers signed up so far are staying right where they are.
To clarify, Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes, Lotus and Sauber are all certain to keep unchanged line-ups for the 2012 season, with their drivers now all signed, sealed and contracted-up for next season in a staggering display of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. And a bit of 'if Jarno Trulli's going to retire soon anyway, why bother having an awkward conversation with him'.
Aside from that though, there are still some teams putting in the effort to invent some sort of excitement in the garage sticker-making departments at all of the 2012 circuits, eager to make sure that they don't just have to re-use all of this season's stock of garage-labelling apparatus.
Renault are the highest-profile team still yet to confirm their line-up, with the team still waiting on Robert Kubica to prove his fitness. The Polish driver has been given an extension to his original deadline of 'some point in October' to do so, and his manager is still confident that Kubica will be back behind the wheel in 2012.
But still rumours persist that Kubby won't be back for next year, which will leave Renault with a bit of an issue. Sponsored-up Russian Vitaly Petrov is certain of a seat for 2012, so long as he keeps providing them with cashable cheques, but his current team mate Bruno Senna is reportedly under pressure to step up his game, after a dip in form over recent races.
Should the team opt not to continue with the marketing potential of the Brazilian, they have GP2 champion Romain Grosjean available to them, while both Force India driver Adrian Sutil and Williams man Rubens Barrichello have been linked to the team over the last few weeks, should the team opt to go for experience over youth.
Those two names have popped up in Renault's sights because both look shakey at their current teams. Sutil is in a three-way fight with Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg over the team's two seats in 2012. According to one report from Germany this week, Hulk has just recently signed a race deal for 2012 with the team, at the expense of his countryman.
Meanwhile, Barrichello looked pretty secure at Williams during the middle of the season, but in recent weeks his position within the team has weakened significantly, not helped by a few duncey errors from the 78-year old Brazilian on the racetrack.
The team has been linked with a remarkable bid for Kimi Raikkonen in 2012, in a deal that would help the Finn get back up to speed in the sport before a possible move to RBR for 2013, and give Williams some much-needed sponsor-attracting kudos. The rumour appears entirely based on Raikkonen visiting the Williams factory for a tour, but although the facts might be shakey, the rumour is persistent.
Alternatively, the cash-strapped Williams squad might be forced to opt for a second paydriver alongside Pastor 'I've got oil money, me' Maldonado, again leaving Barrichello parked outside the old people's home as they do so. GP2 sponsor-hog Giedo van der Garde has been linked with such a move, as well as Sutil and Senna again.
Toro Rosso don't need to go chasing paydrivers, in fact they don't need to do anything when it comes to sorting out their driver line-up, aside from waiting for the phone call from RBR headquarters to clarify whom from Sebastien Buemi, Jaime Alguersuari, Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne they will be employing next season.
The smart money at the moment is probably on a Algie/Ricciardo line-up, with Vergne as a full-time FP1 reserve driver. But the Red Bull powers-that-be will not make a decision until the end of the season, by which point Buemi might have won the final three races, Ricciardo might have retired to start up a career as a hat model, and the team might be left trying to find Christian Klien's number to sort out a second driver.
Finally, there are three seats available with F1's perennial backmarkers. At Virgin Racing, Jerome d'Ambrosio will face pressure to hold onto his drive alongside Timo Glock from Virgin reserve driver and new Renault World Series champion Robert Wickens.
Meanwhile at HRT, Tonio Liuzzi will seek to prolong his slightly flat-lining F1 career for another season under the pretence of helping the team develop their new car, and he'll be partnered by Random Paydriver #32.
Currently contracted drivers -
Ferrari - Fernando Alonso / Felipe Massa
Force India - TBA / TBA
Hispania - TBA / TBA
Lotus - Heikki Kovalainen / Jarno Trulli
McLaren - Jenson Button / Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes - Michael Schumacher / Nico Rosberg (?)
Red Bull - Sebastian Vettel / Mark Webber
Renault - Vitaly Petrov / Robert Kubica (?)
Sauber - Kamui Kobayashi / Sergio Perez
Toro Rosso - TBA / TBA
Virgin - Timo Glock / TBA
Williams - TBA / TBA
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