F1 2025 Driver Contracts/Silly Season News

F1 driver contracts Expiration Data - More than a few teams have interesting contract situations. Mercedes in particular. Both are done with contract in 2025. I expect news early and movement potential to be a big talking point for more than 1 team. Lawson only has a deal for 2025 and that means zero given MaxBull's need to dump and move drivers quickly with almost no - notice lol.

Mclaren
Lando Norris - 2027
Norris agreed to an extension shortly before the start of the 2024 F1 season. He had been linked with a move to Red Bull but has instead opted to spearhead McLaren's attempts to dethrone Max Verstappen.
McLaren said that Norris had signed a "multi-year" extension to his previous deal, which had been set to expire in 2025, which confirms the 25-year-old is tied to the British team until at least the end of 2027.
Oscar Piastri - 2026
Piastri signed a multi-year contract extension in September 2023 during his rookie campaign with McLaren.
Piastri is relatively inexperienced compared to team-mate Norris, so if he can make another step forward in 2025 and McLaren have a championship-winning car, it will be fascinating to see how Zak Brown and Andrea Stella handle their drivers.

Ferrari
-Charles Leclerc - 'several seasons'
Leclerc penned in a new Ferrari deal in January 2024, but the team did not comment on the length of his contract.
Leclerc said on social media afterwards that he would be with Ferrari for "several seasons to come" and it is hard to see the Monegasque driver go elsewhere in the medium to short-term.
-Lewis Hamilton - 2026
Hamilton's shock announcement on February 1 last year to join Ferrari was one of the biggest F1 transfer deals in the sport's history.
Hamilton will spend at least two seasons at Ferrari, having signed a multi-year deal which began this year. The 39-year-old is approaching the end of his F1 career and the feeling is he will retire from F1 in red.

Red Bull
-Max Verstappen - 2028
Verstappen signed a long-term deal back in March 2022 to stay at Red Bull until the end of 2028. However, there are clauses in Verstappen's contract that can see him leave the team, which was highlighted in 2024 during the height of inapproiate behaviour allegations made against Christian Horner, which were dismissed later that year.
Toto Wolff confirmed he met with Verstappen's manager Raymond Vermeulen and father Jos Verstappen during last season's summer break.
Adrian Newey joining Aston Martin and Honda becoming the team's power unit supplier from 2026 has also made them a potential option in the future for Verstappen, who has also reiterated he does not want to spend all his racing career in F1.
Liam Lawson - 2025
Red Bull's decision to drop Sergio Perez means Lawson will be Verstappen's latest team-mate and his F1 career will be dictated by the 2025 season.
Lawson, who only has 11 race starts, was only confirmed for 2025 and his future will purely depend on how he performs against Verstappen.

Mercedes
-George Russell - 2025
Russell will be keen to assert himself as team leader at Mercedes alongside teenager Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Both Mercedes drivers have only been confirmed for 2025, perhaps an indication that Wolff is still keen to sign Verstappen, so a repeat of his strong 2024 campaign will be pivotal for Russell.
-Andrea Kimi Antonelli - 2025
Mercedes took the brave decision to replace Hamilton with 18-year-old Antonelli, who has been thrown straight into the deep end.
Antonelli has been touted as the next big thing in F1 but a big crash on his practice debut at Monza and an underwhelming F2 season may have taken some of the shine off the Italian going into his big rookie season.

Aston Martin
-Fernando Alonso - 2026
Alonso agreed a contract extension last April to remain with Aston Martin until at least the end of the 2026 F1 season.Alonso is the oldest driver on the grid and will turn 45 during the 2026 season, which would make him the first driver to compete in Formula 1 at that age since Graham Hill in 1975.
The Spaniard has not won an F1 race since 2013 and his two titles came in 2005 and 2006. He will be hoping the Adrian Newey-led 2026 car can help him achieve his dream to become a three-time world champion.
-Lance Stroll - 2026
Stroll is the only driver in the field whose contract details are largely unknown, partly because he is the son of team owner Lawrence Stroll, and appears to have a seat for as long as his father remains in that position.
Stroll has been outperformed by Alonso during their two seasons together but Aston Martin formally announced last June that the Canadian has a deal for "2025 and beyond".

Alpine
Pierre Gasly - 2026
Gasly also announced a contract extension to stay at Alpine until at least the end of the 2026 F1 season on the same day Stroll's deal was revealed. Gasly joined Alpine at the start of 2023 and impressed many last year for his performances, which included a podium at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in the rain.
Jack Doohan - 2025
Doohan will be Gasly's new team-mate after Esteban Ocon left Alpine before the end of last season. Doohan made his full F1 debut at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix due to Ocon's sudden departure. The 21-year-old Australian was Alpine's reserve driver last year and could come under early pressure to retain his seat.

Haas
-Esteban Ocon - 2026
Ocon is looking to revive his F1 career at Haas after a disappointing end to his time at Alpine. The French driver agreed to join Haas last July on a multi-year deal and will have a young Brit to contend with at the American outfit.
-Oliver Bearman - 2026
Bearman already has three F1 race weekends under his belt, including a strong debut with Ferrari when he replaced Carlos Sainz at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Racing Bulls
-Yuki Tsunoda - 2025
Many feel Tsunoda should have been promoted to Red Bull's main team but he will instead spend a fifth year at the newly renamed Racing Bulls, previously known as Toro Rosso, AlphaTauri and most recently RB. Tsunoda was announced to stay at the Red Bull sister team for 2025 last June but driver changes can happen at any time in any of the Red Bull outfits.
-Isack Hadjar - 2025
Red Bull junior Hadjar was confirmed as the second Racing Bulls driver in December. The 20-year-old Frenchman finished second in last year's F2 championship to Sauber new boy Gabriel Bortoleto after winning four races and becomes the latest driver from Red Bull's junior programme to graduate to the F1 grid.

Williams
-Carlos Sainz - 2026
Sainz was the key cog in F1's driver market in the early stages of last season, knowing he did not have a drive for 2025 when Hamilton was announced to replace him at Ferrari. In July, Williams confirmed they won the battle to sign Sainz on a two-year deal with "options to extend" beyond 2026.
-Alex Albon - 2026
Albon agreed a new multi-year contract extension last May but faces his toughest competition at Williams yet this season. The British-born Thai driver joined Williams in 2022 after a year out of the sport, having been let go at the end of 2020 by Red Bull following 18 months as Verstappen's team-mate.

Sauber
Nico Hulkenberg - 2026
Hulkenberg was confirmed as Audi's first Formula 1 driver last April after Haas revealed he would leave at the end of the 2024 season. Hulkenberg signed a multi-year contract that will see him drive for Sauber this year, after which the team will be taken over by German manufacturer Audi from the 2026 season.
Gabriel Bortoleto - 2026
To couple with Hulkenberg's experience, Sauber and Audi signed F2 champion Bortoleto who is another exciting young talent joining the grid. Bortoleto won the F3 and F2 championships in his rookie season.

 

Have not seen anything in the press or rumor or in conversation with people I know he will be in a supporting role at all. He is the future and worst is they are on equal terms as Carlos was with Charles overall. The LH experiment will be interesting but Charles will endure and be there after LH retires. Charles might even have a title but he must ensure LH is not a threat by driving well, mistake free and leading the team. That is some pressure but he is well experienced now and will be ok. The focus is can Charles defeat LH and can LH still be competitive and contribute to Ferrari given his overall standing.

 

Via Planet F1

A deal to take Williams driver Franco Colapinto to Alpine for the F1 2025 season is “imminent” according to a report in Argentina.

Briatore recently offered reassurance that Doohan would start the F1 2025 season at the Australian Grand Prix on March 16.

Yet he warned that he would not hesitate to make a change if the 21-year-old, the son of motorcycling legend Mick Doohan, struggled to match Gasly at the start of the new season.

Asked if Doohan and Gasly will definitely start the season with Alpine, he told Le Parisien: “The only thing we can be sure of is death!

“We’ll start the year with Pierre and Jack, I can guarantee that. After that, we’ll see as the season progresses.

“I have to get the team in the right condition to get results and the driver is the one who has to conclude the work of nearly 1,000 people behind him. Everyone works for just two people. It is said that Doohan’s contract “officially” covers the first six races of the F1 2025 season, which, if true, would take him up to the Miami Grand Prix on May 4.

 

For the driver.