Williams have made the first move in an attempt to persuade Jenson Button to return to the team he drove for at the start of his career.

Williams are understood to have held initial discussions with Jenson, and the advance from grove only goes to prove that the team would welcome Jenson back with open arms. The driver merry-go-round can quite easily turn into a game of chess however, and Williams have also conceded that they have other drivers on their shortlist and will not wait forever for Jenson.

They are believed to have an option on current driver Valtteri Bottas for 2017, and they are also rumoured to be interested in attracting Sergio Perez to Grove from Force India. Sergio was adamant in Germany that he is free to discuss next year with potential suitors, previously Force India have stated both their drivers are staying put.

An outside bet for Williams could be Felipe ‘Fred’ Nasr, who could bring some hefty sponsorship with him from the struggling Sauber team.

Claire Williams has made it clear that they will only do the best for the team, and will not wait  for anyone. 

“We will own our driver line-up decision, and I am not sat here waiting for [McLaren chairman] Ron Dennis to make his decision or for Jenson to make his decision,” Williams told the Press Association.

“It it is not about what other people are doing. I am not going to be waiting around because that is just not the right mentality for a team like ours to have.

“It would be a great story, but he has to make the right choice for him, and we have to make the right choice for the team.”

Jenson is a sponsors dream as McLaren have found out since 2010, his high profile could boost the Grove coffers and provide some much needed attention on the track too.

Claire added:

“When I talk about the criteria that we are looking at, it is the talent in the cockpit, the intelligence to feed back to the engineers, and for us, as an independent team, the commercial factors are going to play a part in the decision-making process too.

“You can’t have an unknown driver in your car. It is just not going to work.”

On the Mexican driver Sergio Perez, Claire said: “Sergio has done a great job this year, he is an intelligent driver, and of course he is going to be someone we are looking at.

“I have only met him briefly on the odd occasion. He is very charming. He is very eloquent, so commercially he would be strong for any team.

“Of course he is going to be someone you’d consider if he is available.”

Silly season has been a little late to start this year, but what else can the teams do during the summer break?

One thing looks certain though, Felipe Massa could be on his way out of formula one.