Oct.5 (GMM) Adrian Sutil is shaping up as another key ingredient to one of the most delayed and potentially sweeping F1 'silly seasons' in recent memory.

Like Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg, the German rookie is firmly under contract to his existing team for 2008 -- but in the intriguing world of grand prix racing, that does not often mean much.

Kimi Raikkonen was famously sold by Sauber to McLaren at the end of 2001, for example, and Jenson Button a couple of years ago was able to buy his way out of a solid Williams deal.

Impressive Sutil, who was once a teammate of Lewis Hamilton in their F3 days, would not confirm what team he would drive for in 2008.

"It is still too early to say," he told the German broadcaster Premiere at the Shanghai circuit on Friday.

"We will see what happens over the winter, but I am certain that I will drive in formula one (next year)," Sutil added, according to Motorsport-Total.com.

Sutil has been linked for 2008 with Toyota and also Williams, while it is reported that he may even have visited the latter outfit's UK factory to drive its simulator.