While Formula 1 team bosses have been spared a ‘silly season’ in 2025, there are still six seats to be filled for next year’s grid.

We are getting to the stage of the year when teams start to finalise their driver lineup for the following year. and while seven of the 11 competitors next year already have their duo in place, there are spots – most notably at Mercedes and Red Bull – still theoretically up for grabs.

These are the six drivers heading into the final races of the year with their contracts expiring and where we think they will be come 2026.

Predicting the future of six out-of-contract F1 stars
Franco Colapinto

If there was one driver on the grid whose place next year seems most doubtful, it’s Franco Colapinto.

Seduced by his performances at Williams, Alpine spent a lot of money to bring in the Argentine and on the track at least, he has not done much to repay them.

Aside from Jack Doohan, who he replaced after six races, Colapinto is the only driver yet to score a point this season and is propping up what is otherwise a very competitive table.

While there have not been a lot of crashes like there was towards the end of his Williams spell, Colapinto simply has not been quick enough and has tended to finish in the final quarter of the order.

The Alpine car is of course not great, but Pierre Gasly is at least on 20 points and has finished ahead of his teammate on seven occasions.

As for the future, team boss Flavio Briatore has been unreassuringly vague when it comes to what happens with Colapinto but the lack of alternatives may save him.

Prediction: Out of the Alpine seat and back to a reserve role

George Russell

George Russell staying at Mercedes has looked certain for a long time, but the more weeks that go by without a deal, the more doubtful that becomes.

Despite Toto Wolff’s public flirting with Max Verstappen and his desire for Kimi Antonelli to be the next Verstappen, Russell has done himself a lot of credit this year and is the only non-McLaren driver not called Verstappen to win a race.

His performance in Singapore was a timely reminder of what he can do and the delays in negotiations may be him using his power to dictate better terms or may be him wanting reassurance that he is the team’s No. 1 for years to come.

Either way, with the other top seats mostly filled and new engine regs on the way, it seems 99% likely that Russell will still be at Mercedes come next year.

Prediction: Stays at Mercedes

Kimi Antonelli

There has been a lot of focus on the contract situation of the other Mercedes driver but Kimi Antonelli’s future has also yet to be decided.

2025 has been an up-and-down season for the teenager as he started the year with 20 points in his first three races, he struggled mid-season, although has shown signs of recovery in recent races.

Looking at his performances, you get the feeling that Mercedes may have thrown him into the fire a little too soon and perhaps another year in F2 would have benefited the Italian but Lewis Hamilton’s departure put Toto Wolff and co. in an awkward spot.

That bridge has been crossed now and there’s no going back, so Antonelli seems likely to remain in the seat for next year.

Had Verstappen been available then, the 19-year-old may well have been back on the sidelines, but thankfully for him, that door is closed.

Prediction: Stays at Mercedes

Isack Hadjar

Of the four Red Bull drivers this season, Isack Hadjar has been the biggest surprise. While Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda have spent time drinking from the poison chalice that is a seat at the top team, Hadjar has seamlessly transitioned into a competent F1 driver during his debut season with Racing Bulls.

A crash in the formation lap of his first-ever race was quickly put to bed with points in Japan and the Frenchman’s performances have only been getting stronger.

A podium in Zandvoort was the standout result and now Red Bull has a question to ask itself – where should Hadjar drive next season?

The old maxim says ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ but Red Bull being 360 points off McLaren will not sit well in Milton Keynes or Austria. The team has been looking for a competent teammate for Verstappen and it may well be Hadjar’s turn for a try.

Prediction: Promotion to Red Bull

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Liam Lawson

Liam Lawson has been speed-running his F1 career of late as he went from a rookie waiting in reserve to Formula 1 driver to Formula 1 driver for a top team and then back down to the second team – all in the span of 18 months.

After his crash out of Red Bull, he landed back in the familiar surroundings of Racing Bulls but he has been somewhat shown up by his rookie teammate and trails him by nine points in the standings. Crucially too, Hadjar has scored points in nine races while Lawson’s have come in five.

If, as we predict, Hadjar moves up to Red Bull, Lawson may well be kept on for 2026 as a now-established driver who can help the team with development more than the rookie in the other seat could.

There is a realistic chance that Arvid Lindblad will be given the nod for next year and if Lawson does not outscore him, that may well be the end of his time in F1.

Prediction: Stays at Racing Bulls

Yuki Tsunoda

In Red Bull’s game of musical chairs, it feels like when the music stops, Yuki Tsunoda will be the one left standing.

Before 2025 started, there was already an assumption that once Honda left at the end of the year, Red Bull would part ways with Tsunoda but his surprising promotion to the main seat has raised a question of what comes next.

Tsunoda had long wanted a shot at Red Bull but his 20 points, 253 fewer than his teammate, have not exactly set out a case for him sticking around into 2026.

It seems likely that Tsunoda will be leaving the Red Bull family at the end of the year, but there is no obvious destination for him to go to.

Away from Mercedes and the Red Bull seats, the only available move would be to partner Pierre Gasly at Alpine and while we could see a world in which that happens, it seems unlikely.

More likely then would be Tsunoda doing an Alex Albon and spending a year off the grid and waiting for his opportunity in 2027.

Prediction: Out of F1 for a year at least

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