I must say that I enjoy watching Kobayashi, and am glad to see him back in F1. He has shown moments of stupidity and moments of brilliance. I doubt he is world champion material, but I'd rather see him with a ride than Maldonado, or a few others that have passed through the F1 ranks in recent years.
I can't say that I know much about Ericsson, but his GP2 record seems weak. Good Sponsorship perhaps?
What is the story on Hekki? The end of the season chatter suggested that he was tight with Caterham an that a ride was expected. Did he want too much money? Did he not bring enough money to the table? Did it hurt him that he was unable to work miracles at Louts? Did Hekki realize the financial situation at Caterham was dismal, and go elsewhere?
Other than well wishes to Michael Schumacher, his Facebook page says nothing about F1 since Brazil. Google doesn't bring up any recent news either.