The contrasting notice periods for F1 2020's headline movers

The summer months generally signal the arrival of Formula 1's silly season. The drivers will have seen what they felt in winter testing translate into good or bad early results, and the trends of a campaign will be established. Those heading towards the end of a contract will be looking to the form guide when considering a move, while teams will be constantly assessing how the present will change in the future.

This year, it's all rather different. First of all, there's nothing very silly about 2020 given the horrors of the coronavirus pandemic and the serious (and needed) movements to make progress on racial equality.

Secondly, and ultimately trivially given the challenges facing society, the headline moves in the driver market have already taken place - with Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari exit news triggering a wave of seat-swapping, and Carlos Sainz Jr and Daniel Ricciardo then announcing respective deals with the Scuderia and McLaren.

There are, of course, holes to fill - notably at Renault and possibly Mercedes should something wildly unexpected happen - but for Sainz, Ricciardo and Vettel at least, one big unknown of 2020 has been settled.

For Sainz, he now goes into the new season following the best campaign of his five-year F1 career so far, with a contract to move to the championship's most-storied team freshly inked.

PLUS: What kind of Ferrari driver will Sainz be?

The key - as it is for any driver - is to remain focused on the present campaign, and Sainz has already said he wants to leave McLaren on a positive note. His move to the team rescued an F1 career that looked in serious danger of being derailed after his Red Bull time was ended with his switch to Renault, which then opted to replace him with Ricciardo.

So, the upcoming season will be one of excitement and enjoyment for Sainz - akin to the joyful weeks anyone has spent waiting for an old job to end before moving on to achieve a dream.

"I can tell you that now my main focus is in 2020, in the way that I want to perform this year in McLaren - because there's nothing that I would love more than saying goodbye to McLaren on a high," he told F1.com last month. "I'll keep that momentum going until the end of 2020 and then it will be time to worry about those testing [questions].

"Is there going to be any testing? Is it going to be exactly the same car and I have never driven it before Australia? But until then, [it's] McLaren time - put Ferrari a bit in the pocket and don't think about it anymore and keep the momentum going with McLaren."

Vettel's 2020 experience will be very different. He knows that his Ferrari dream is dying - that the mission he set to succeed where his hero Michael Schumacher had done so famously in the past is likely to end in failure

A sensible approach, of course, but those worries are legitimate concerns for any driver making a move between the 2020 and 2021 seasons, as the cars will be largely carried over as a result of the coronavirus cost-saving measures. So Sainz, who former Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello predicts will be "anxious to get going" with his new team, will also have to learn to gel with the SF1000 machine that Charles Leclerc will already have driven for a year.

Ricciardo is in a similar situation to Sainz in that he will be making a switch that at this stage looks like a move up the grid given Renault slipped behind McLaren in 2019, and his soon-to-be new squad has taken significant steps to plan for its F1 future.

The main questions for Ricciardo in 2020 will likely be awkward ones regarding his relationship with his current employer given Renault's public response to his McLaren unveiling indicated it was less-than-impressed...

But Vettel's 2020 experience will be very different. He knows that his Ferrari dream is dying - that the mission he set to succeed where his hero Michael Schumacher had done so famously in the past is likely to end in failure. Again, unless the indications from 2020 winter testing were completely misleading, Ferrari will start the season behind Mercedes and Red Bull.

As well as living with that likely understanding, he will be working with a team that knows he is on his way out, and will therefore have to exclude him from its plans for the future, as well as try and hide performance secrets he could yet take to another squad. Such tactics are not new in F1, they are the result of the ruthless professionalism the teams have to employ.

Damon Hill, the 1996 world champion, has famous personal experience of this situation - although several things were different 24 years ago. First of all, Hill was engaged with a title fight, albeit an intra-team one with his Williams team-mate Jacques Villeneuve, and secondly, he found out he would definitely be leaving much later in the year compared to Vettel.

"Basically it's a bit like in politics if you announce you're not going to run for election that - lame duck, or dead man walking, all these expressions," Hill tells Autosport. "It is literally the world just switches immediately to the future. So, they'll put an arm around you and they'll go 'oh it's jolly nice of you'. They might, if they're very generous sort of give you a going away present or something like that. [But] it's not a good thing.

"It's a difficult situation. I think even more difficult is announcing you're going to stop driving. When I made the decision I wanted to stop, to carry on - thinking 'I just need to get through these last five races' - is very difficult. And Bernie Ecclestone, whatever you think of Bernie, he has got insight, extraordinary insight, into human nature. And he said, 'when a driver sees the red light, he needs to stop immediately'. And I think that is absolutely true.

"If you think you haven't got it, don't carry on until the end of the season. Stop right there and then.

"But yeah, Vettel's situation is a bit worrying for him because he's announced he's not going to be with Ferrari - [or rather] they announced he's not going be with Ferrari. But where's he going to be? He's not going to drive for Aston Martin - why would he do that? So, when you get to the top, it's very difficult because the only way is down and there's no more top anymore if you're leaving."

That is Vettel's unique challenge of the three headline movers of F1 2020 so far - his very F1 future is now uncertain. Speculation about a potential sabbatical is one thing, but he will certainly be assessing his options with other squads.

When racing finally resumes, there will be an interesting dynamic as Vettel, Sainz, Ricciardo and their current team-mates do battle on track

The 2020-21 car carryover applies to Vettel's situation as well, because any advantages or disadvantages are likely to be baked in for both campaigns, with only limited changes permitted by the token development system "in accordance to the competitors' specific needs", per the FIA.

Vettel at least has the impressive record of a proven champion.

PLUS: Why F1 would be poorer without Vettel

His 53 race wins, 57 poles and four world titles mean he will walk away from F1 a legend, whenever that day comes. He has no unfinished business beyond his unfulfilled Ferrari dream, but all of that past success means that for him a search for a new team will be markedly different to that of an unproven driver.

When racing finally resumes, there will be an interesting dynamic as Vettel, Sainz, Ricciardo and their current team-mates do battle on track. No one will be giving an inch, but for those teams already expecting a new driver, and for those that still have signings to make, what the racers can bring for 2021 will be firmly on display.