Thursday 15 May at 15:49 : Rumblings surrounding the future destination of Robert Kubica could have kicked off a very early start to F1's annual driver 'silly season'.

We reported recently that, notwithstanding BMW-Sauber's option to automatically extend the 23-year-old Pole's contract to include 2009, Ferrari and Renault have made enquiries as to how long his stay at the team could extend.

The Swiss publication Motorsport Aktuell suggests that Kubica's manager, Daniele Morelli, may have leaked the news not because his charge may be looking to change teams, but simply to drive up his salary following an excellent start to the 2008 season.

Asked by reporters at Istanbul last week about BMW's 2009 driver lineup, team boss Mario Theissen revealed: "We will make an announcement about this in the summer."