The 2027 driver market could pivot on Max Verstappen deciding whether or not to quit Formula 1 at the end of the season, but he’s not the only moving part.

With most drivers out of contract this year, almost anyone could become the first domino that triggers a flurry of action through the paddock.

Despite Aston Martin having little say in the competitive order, one of its seats could play an important role in the silly season, with two-time champion Fernando Alonso contemplating his future.

Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship™ LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.

He’s not the only person whose future is in the spotlight, with rumours continuing to rumble about Christian Horner after the former Red Bull Racing boss was spotted in the MotoGP paddock at the weekend.

Meanwhile, off the track, McLaren boss Zak Brown has hit out at the prospect of Mercedes buying a stake in a second team.

ALONSO CONTEMPLATING CAREER EXTENSION

Fernando Alonso has given the first firm indication that he wants to continue racing in Formula 1 beyond the end of this season.

Alonso, who will turn 45 in July, is out of contract at Aston Martin this season and had previously suggested he would start 2026 with the attitude it would be his 23rd and final grand prix campaign.

However, the two-time champion also said that he would find it difficult to retire if this year’s car were not competitive, wanting to end his career on a high and knowing that the Aston Martin project is on the right track.

Aston Martin is currently 11th and last in the constructors championship behind newcomer Cadillac, the only other team yet to score a point. Alonso’s 18th place in Japan is the team’s only classified finish for a grand prix.

Speaking to the Automobile Club de Monaco, Alonso suggested he was not ready to call time on his career

“I love what I do, I love racing,” he said.

“I did my first race when I was three years old, and I am 44, so 41 years of my life I have been behind a steering wheel. The moment I have to stop racing, it will be very hard decision and it will be difficult to accept.

“Time will tell. I will feel it. At the moment I don’t feel it is that time yet. I feel competitive. I feel motivated. I feel happy when I drive.

“Hopefully [it’s] not the last season.”

The average age of the Formula 1 grid at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix was just shy of 24 years and four months old, with Alonso the outlier at 44 and a half years old.

A one-year career extension would not put Alonso in line for any records, however, with Formula 1’s youthfulness a relatively modern phenomenon.

The oldest winner in F1 history is Luigi Fagioli, who won the 1951 French Grand Prix at 53 years old, while Giuseppe Farina is the oldest pole-getter, at 47 years old.

Juan Manuel Fangio is the oldest world champion, winning the 1957 title at 46 years old.

Marc Marquez goes off in a HUGE crash | 00:39

‘SO MUCH TO OFFER’: HORNER MAKES SURPRISE MOTOGP VISIT

Christian Horner has made a reportedly surprise visit to the MotoGP paddock as rumours continue to swirl about the future of the former F1 team boss.

Horner was ousted from the top job at Red Bull Racing last season but has declared his time in top-tier motorsport is not yet over despite an eye-watering pay-off from the squad he ran for more than a decade.

The Englishman has been linked most closely with Alpine, where a 24 per cent stake in the team is up for sale, but has also been connected to Aston Martin.

But MotoGP, now sharing Liberty Media with Formula 1 as a common owner, has caught Horner’s attention.

“I have always been a big fan of MotoGP, and while I’ve got a little bit of time, I thought it was a good opportunity to come down and have a look at the championship,” he told the MotoGP broadcast at the weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez.

“I think it’s a really interesting time for MotoGP. It’s going through a period of change under new ownership as well. I wanted to come here and see a little bit for myself.

“It’s great racing. It’s a great show. The riders are incredible and the bikes are incredible. It’s only when you get to see it live that you appreciate how insane these machines are.

“I think as a sport it has so much to offer, so hopefully the Liberty guys, with the experience they have in Formula 1, will be able to lean into that.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Horner spent time in the Honda garage, having worked closely with the Japanese brand when it was supplying engines to Red Bull Racing between 2019 and 2025.

While the MotoGP link is purely speculative, Horner wouldn’t be the first contemporary mover from four wheel to two.

Guenther Steiner, the former Haas boss, became the Tech3 team principal and CEO this year after leading a buyout of Hervé Poncharal’s team.

Massimo Rivola, the Aprilia CEO, started his motorsport career in Formula 1, having held the roles of team manager at the former Toro Rosso team and later sporting director at Ferrari before joining the MotoGP paddock in 2019.

Davide Brivio has switched between the two, moving from the top of the defunct Suzuki team to become Alpine’s F1 racing director before moving back to MotoGP as Trackhouse team principal.

Marquez scorches practice in Spain | 00:55

McLAREN BOSS HITS OUT AT MERC BID FOR ALPINE STAKE

Formula 1 would be making a “mistake” if it allowed Mercedes to buy a stake in the Alpine team, according to McLaren CEO Zak Brown.

American investment group Otro Capital is looking to offload its 24 per cent share in the majority Renault-owned team after purchasing the stake in 2023.

Horner, backed by his own investors, is in the running to buy in, but the Mercedes team has since emerged as a serious contender.

Though both teams have rebuffed suggestions that Alpine could be transformed into a de facto Mercedes junior squad, it is inevitable that the two brands would find ways to work together more closely if they were to share ownership.

McLaren boss Brown has previously called on the FIA to outlaw common ownership — which to now has involved only Red Bull’s control of both Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls — and his position hasn’t changed despite the potentially awkward political position of his team being a Mercedes engine customer.

“I think it would be a mistake for the sport,” he said, per The Race.

“In today’s day and age, if that’s permitted, I think it runs a real high risk of compromising the integrity of sporting fairness.

“I’ve been vocal about it from day one. We’ve seen it play out on track in a sporting way, with [then AlphaTauri driver] Daniel Ricciardo taking the fastest lap point away from us [in Singapore in 2024] to help the other team.

“We’ve seen IP violations on the Racing Point brake ducts [in 2020].”

Brown made his comments shortly after Red Bull Racing announced Andrea Landi, the Racing Bulls deputy technical director, would join as its head of performance after less than three months on the sidelines.

McLaren, meanwhile, is set to wait until 2028 for RBR head of racing Gianpiero Lambiase to join it in a similar role.

“We’ve seen employees move overnight [between affiliated teams], where we either have to wait and sometimes make financial deals, which then impacts us in the cost cap,” Brown continued.

“When you see other teams that move from one to the other and then also without financial compensation, that’s an unfair financial advantage. That’s an unfair sporting advantage.

“I don’t think it’s healthy for the sport.”