{"id":87902,"date":"2025-08-22T16:29:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T16:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/87902\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T16:29:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T16:29:13","slug":"star-driver-is-secretly-available-for-f1-transfer-next-year-even-though-hes-under-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/87902\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Star driver’ is secretly ‘available’ for F1 transfer next year even though he’s under contract"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Only one of the drivers at Formula 1\u2019s top teams is expected to be on the move for 2026. It would be a particularly risky time to change teams, with unpredictable regulation changes on the horizon.<\/p>\n

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have no reason to leave McLaren, who have dominated the championship this year. Both drivers recently signed long-term extensions.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s some talk that Lewis Hamilton could abruptly retire at Ferrar<\/a>i after a dramatic downturn in form, but this remains unlikely. While Charles Leclerc\u2019s deal includes an exit clause<\/a> based on the Scuderia\u2019s 2026 performances, it\u2019s also the second-longest contract in F1.<\/p>\n

DRIVERTEAMCONTRACTLando NorrisMcLarenEnd of 2028Oscar PiastriMcLarenEnd of 2030Lewis HamiltonFerrariEnd of 2026Charles LeclercFerrariEnd of 2029Max VerstappenRed BullEnd of 2028Yuki TsunodaRed BullEnd of 2025George RussellMercedesEnd of 2025Kimi AntonelliMercedesEnd of 2025The contracts of F1\u2019s front-running drivers<\/p>\n

Max Verstappen<\/a> has decided to stay at Red Bull, but teammate Yuki Tsunoda is set to lose his seat<\/a>. He, like Mercedes<\/a> drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, is out of contract at the end of the year, but the Silver Arrows duo are in line for extensions.<\/p>\n

Max Verstappen \u2018available\u2019 in 2026 driver market despite contract running until 2028<\/p>\n

Auto Motor und Sport<\/a> have previously reported that Red Bull will allow Verstappen to leave for 2027<\/a> if they don\u2019t deliver next year. This was an essential condition of the world champion agreeing to stay. <\/p>\n

Verstappen again has an exit clause<\/a> in his deal next year, this time holding Red Bull to an even higher standard. But based on AMuS\u2019 latest \u2018information\u2019, that won\u2019t necessarily matter.<\/p>\n

They believe that \u2018star driver\u2019 Verstappen will be \u2018available\u2019 in next year\u2019s F1 driver market<\/a> despite the apparent security of his contract. He will effectively be able to choose his team for 2027.<\/p>\n

\"MaxPhoto by Joe Portlock\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Red Bull<\/a> will likely lose their \u2018most important asset\u2019 unless they address Verstappen\u2019s technical considerations. He\u2019s frustrated by the narrow \u2018operating window\u2019 of the RB21.<\/p>\n

New team principal Laurent Mekies is under immediate pressure to solve this problem even though he\u2019s inherited the plans made by Christian Horner.<\/p>\n

Toto Wolff has a cunning plan for George Russell\u2019s Mercedes contract<\/p>\n

Mercedes have been the primary suitors for Verstappen up to this point, but they certainly won\u2019t be the only team to make an offer. <\/p>\n

Aston Martin are determined to land Verstappen<\/a> and may need a successor for Fernando Alonso if he retires at the end of his deal. <\/p>\n

But Mercedes are the most bullish team ahead of F1\u2019s new era, and if they lead the way, they will naturally be Verstappen\u2019s preference. Russell and Antonelli are unlikely to be safe for long.<\/p>\n

Toto Wolff could \u2018manipulate\u2019 Russell\u2019s new contract<\/a> so he doesn\u2019t overcommit. Despite the Englishman\u2019s excellent performances, Wolff has the upper hand given the lack of appealing options available elsewhere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Only one of the drivers at Formula 1\u2019s top teams is expected to be on the move for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,1627,816,825,946,85],"class_list":["post-87902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula-1-driver-market","tag-formula1","tag-max-verstappen","tag-red-bull-racing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}