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.

FORBES: High Frequency Traders -- Cost Reducers or Criminals?

State media offered no more details about Mr. Bo's dismissal Thursday, except to say that it was formally announced in Chongqing by Li Yuanchao, the head of the party's organization department who is another front-runner for promotion to the new Standing Committee.

WSJ: China Ouster Shows Party at a Crossroads