The Formula One money-go-round, either a bumpy ride to riches for an elite few or an abruptly ceased income for the not-so-blessed, has begun to whirr into action behind the scenes.

Not that anybody beyond the secretive inner sanctums of the teemingly wealthy Grand Prix teams and their financial mentors backstage can know for certain when it will grind to a halt for some and speed the more fortunate others to mind-boggling incomes to comfort them for a lifetime of utter luxury.

Three star names, a trio of veterans and regular winners, but not for a good while now, are odds-on to feature in the threat of an offloading before the season ebbs to its climax.

They are Jenson Button, 36, McLaren’s former world champion, a winner 15 times, and Williams’ Felipe Massa, a year younger, never the champion but a winner of 11 GPs and with a second and a third place in the title chase, two of the nicest guys in the sport but oldies and top earners, in parallel to a levelling off of their ability to be challengers to the front runners.

The exit door is half open, too, for Ferrari’s faded force Kimi Raikkonen, another ex-champion, now lost in the shadow of his partner, four times crown holder Sebastian Vettel. How he has survived so far is a mystery and there has been no indication that he will be retained — an issue only given more intrigue by Ferrari’s insistence that there will no decision on the 36-year-old’s future before the season end.

Ironically, an ominous silence on team HQ plans for all three only serves to throw doubt on their continuance in their present jobs. And into the fray of anticipation, possibility and presumption is a key figure, an upcoming and fast developing youngster brimming with ability and presence, qualities to be treasured on and off the track by teams and sponsors alike.

His name? Stoffel Vandoorne, currently the reserve driver at McLaren, but a clear target for set-ups anxious to slash their huge salary outflows and secure a long-term commitment with a future world champion in the making.

The 24-year-old Belgian, the first Flemish driver ever in F1, even outpaced teammate Button in his Grand Prix debut in Bahrain when he replaced the unfit Alonso.

He finished an eye-catching tenth and became the first reserve driver since Vettel in the USA in 2007 to score championship points.

McLaren, I believe, have to choose between Button and Vandoorne as the teammate for Fernando Alonso for next season, the last year of the Spaniard’s £30m (Dh148.5 million) contract, and I don’t believe team boss Ron Dennis will be too bothered about holding onto Button, whom he nearly let go last season.

But if McLaren imagine they have a firm grip on their fast-rising star, twice the GP2 champion, they had better think again because Vandoorne could well be fancied by Williams, as a partner to Valterri Bottas, or Ferrari alongside Vettel.

Vandoorne, ten years younger than Button and on a mere fraction of the Briton’s £20m a year salary, is the logical choice to be retained by McLaren.

If, by some quirky reasoning, Dennis held onto Button that would surely expedite Vandoorne’s departure — and that would mean McLaren will have lost two brilliant young talents following their puzzling decision to allow Kevin Magnussen to switch to another outfit.

McLaren have, I am told, an option on Vandoorne that expires in autumn and that means, of course, he is not free to link with another team until the deal lapses. That is not to say he cannot be talking surreptitiously to prospective buyers of his ability as I would guarantee he is doing right now. And he will have to do all his own negotiating because, rarely for a Grand Prix driver, he does not have a manager to do his talking for him.

Not that he needs to be overly verbose on that front, his brilliance talks for itself. In volumes.