The Brazilian, a world championship runner-up in 2008, has recovered from serious head injuries suffered the following year but has very much been the number two driver since Alonso arrived from Renault in 2010.

CNN: Alonso: F1 runs risk of losing credibility

The front-runner is Denise Kingsmill, a lawyer, who is currently deputy head of the Competition Commission and in charge of its inquiry into car prices.

ECONOMIST: Competition policy

At SIFMA, the American securities industry conference in New York in June, Mary Shapiro, head of the SEC, and Christine Lagarde, front-runner for the chief of the International Monetary Fund, were regarded as only slightly better.

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