That\u2019s largely because most drivers have chosen to bide their time until next year, by which time it will be clear which teams have nailed the new regulations and which have flopped.<\/p>\n
But even in this off-cycle campaign there are some significant questions still to be answered as crunch time looms for 2026.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Most teams choose not to disclose contract lengths for their drivers, opting instead for the well-worn terminology of the \u2018multiyear\u2019 deal.<\/p>\n
In compiling the below list, multiyear deals are assumed to run for two seasons unless otherwise clarified<\/p>\n
‘**** turned in on me!’ Russell fumes | 01:43<\/p>\n
SEATS LOCKED DOWN<\/p>\n
McLaren: Oscar Piastri (2028) and Lando Norris (2027)<\/p>\n
Ferrari: Charles Leclerc (2026) and Lewis Hamilton (2026)<\/p>\n
Mercedes: None<\/p>\n
Red Bull Racing: Max Verstappen (2028)<\/p>\n
Williams: Alex Albon (2026) and Carlos Sainz (2026)<\/p>\n
Aston Martin: Fernando Alonso (2026) and Lance Stroll (2026\/ongoing)<\/p>\n
Sauber: Nico H\u00fclkenberg (2026) and Gabriel Bortoleto (2026)<\/p>\n
Racing Bulls: None<\/p>\n
Haas: Esteban Ocon (2026) and Oliver Bearman (2026)<\/p>\n
Alpine: Pierre Gasly (2026)<\/p>\n
Cadillac: None<\/p>\n
There are eight seats still nominally up for grabs in 2026, although even this is somewhat misleading.<\/p>\n
Mercedes is yet to re-sign George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli, but the retention of both is all but a done deal now that Max Verstappen is no longer on the market.<\/p>\n
While the Red Bull program has three seats uncommitted, Isack Hadjar is assured of a seat at one of the brand\u2019s two teams.<\/p>\n
That leaves five seats realistically up for grabs.<\/p>\n
SEATS STILL AVAILABLE<\/p>\n
Red Bull Racing: Yuki Tsunoda out of contract<\/p>\n
Racing Bulls: Liam Lawson (and Isack Hadjar) out of contract<\/p>\n
Alpine: Franco Colapinto out of contract<\/p>\n
Cadillac: No drivers contracted<\/p>\n
Yuki Tsunoda faces a nervous wait.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
CADILLAC<\/p>\n
Formula 1\u2019s newest team is yet to turn a wheel, but with two seats to fill, Cadillac is central to the silly season and the subject of most intrigue.<\/p>\n
The former Andretti bid originally intended to enter F1 with a young American driver to bolster its credentials as an American-owned team. But with no-one from the United States knocking on the door and with the team\u2019s debut drawing nearer, that concept has been abandoned for the greater good.<\/p>\n
Instead Cadillac has been focused on locking down at least one very experienced driver to lead the team and possibly two.<\/p>\n
That uncertainty over its ideal criteria appears to have been part of the reason why it\u2019s yet to announce anyone at all despite months of rumours that deals with various drivers are close \u2014 and despite having set itself a deadline to get at least one driver under contract before the mid-season break.<\/p>\n
The need to sign someone is becoming increasingly pressing in the process of developing next year\u2019s car.<\/p>\n
Sergio P\u00e9rez was an immediate candidate the moment he was dropped by Red Bull Racing at the end of the 2024 season. Though the Mexican was dumped for his fizzling form, the more significant struggles of Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda in his vacated seat have bizarrely worked to bolster his reputation in absentia.<\/p>\n
The fact P\u00e9rez has North American appeal doesn\u2019t hurt either in the context of the team\u2019s aim to represent its home continent.<\/p>\n
But Valtteri Bottas, also out of work since the end of last year, is a strong contender for that seat too.<\/p>\n
The Finn has better stats to make him compelling, boasting 10 wins to P\u00e9rez\u2019s six and 20 poles to P\u00e9rez\u2019s three \u2014 and those numbers are comparable given Bottas was up against Lewis Hamilton while P\u00e9rez was partnered with Max Verstappen, notwithstanding Bottas had an extra year in frontrunning machinery.<\/p>\n
Bottas has also kept himself inside the paddock and behind the wheel via his Mercedes reserve driver role, whereas P\u00e9rez has taken the year off racing.<\/p>\n
If you were watching social media, you\u2019d have got the strong impression that Bottas was poised to sign first, particularly after his cheeky \u2018that\u2019s a nice seat\u2019 video.<\/p>\n
Yet there\u2019s been no news, and there\u2019s unlikely to be any news until next week at the earliest given we\u2019re currently in the sport\u2019s mandatory two-week break.<\/p>\n
So what\u2019s the hold-up?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear whether Cadillac has decided whether to select two experienced drivers \u2014 in which case Bottas and P\u00e9rez are obvious choices \u2014 or to pair one wise head with a young gun.<\/p>\n
The success of Nico H\u00fclkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto at Sauber serves as a tempting template for the latter strategy.<\/p>\n
The team doesn\u2019t necessarily have to decide now \u2014 it always seemed likely to wait to make its second signing in case any currently contracted driver unexpectedly turned up on the market, with Yuki Tsunoda a potential target.<\/p>\n
But P\u00e9rez\u2019s camp is rumoured not to want to be the second driver on the list and has pushed hard to get a deal over the line. Perhaps the late competition for the seat \u2014 and maybe a potential change of plan \u2014 has slowed a decision.<\/p>\n
If the team opts to pair experience and youth, Zhou Guanyu is believed to be in the mix, not least because he\u2019s currently a Ferrari reserve driver and the American team will take Ferrari power units in its first years in Formula 1 while General Motors develops its own engine. He also has some F1 experience under his belt.<\/p>\n
If the team wanted a total rookie, Felipe Drugovich is rumoured to be in contention. Alpine reserve Jack Doohan could also be an option, as could Alpine junior Paul Aron.<\/p>\n
Mick Schumacher has been connected to the seat but is more likely to sign as a reserve driver while racing for Cadillac in the World Endurance Championship, where the son of seven-time champion Michael Schumacher has been doing well since leaving the F1 paddock.<\/p>\n
Sergio Perez could be on his way back to the grid.Source: AFP<\/p>\n
MERCEDES<\/p>\n
The question at Mercedes isn\u2019t who so much as it is how long. While George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli are out of contract, they\u2019re all but assured of keeping their places next season.<\/p>\n
The team has delayed negotiations only because of Max Verstappen\u2019s potential availability next year and Toto Wolff\u2019s longstanding interest in bringing the Dutchman to Brackley.<\/p>\n
But with Verstappen\u2019s performance clauses extinguished for another year, Wolff has been open about his intention to retain an unchanged line-up.<\/p>\n
Now it\u2019s just a matter of details, the most fascinating of which will be duration.<\/p>\n
Verstappen is rumoured to have an even more favourable escape clause next year \u2014 rumour suggests he\u2019ll be a free agent if he\u2019s outside the top two in the drivers championship.<\/p>\n
Wolff, therefore, would be motivated to ensure he has ways to free up space for the Dutchman should he choose to leave Red Bull Racing \u2014 which means shorter deals for Russell and Antonelli.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the Hungarian Grand Prix after it became clear Verstappen wouldn\u2019t be moving to Mercedes, Russell said he wasn\u2019t expecting a long contract.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think drivers who are chasing long-term deals feel they need that security,\u201d he told Autosport. \u201cI\u2019ve never had a long-term deal, and I don\u2019t need a long-term deal, because it should always be about performance. And if I\u2019m not performing, the team shouldn\u2019t be tied in with me. That\u2019s as simple as that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt should work both ways. But I\u2019m not really chasing anything right now, and I\u2019ve not really been in a position to chase.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell is perhaps putting on a brave face because he knows he doesn\u2019t have a strong hand despite having such a strong season.<\/p>\n
Both he and Antonelli face the added complication of being managed by Mercedes \u2014 not exactly a winning position.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey ultimately hold the cards because of the situation we find ourselves in with the management agreement,\u201d Russell said, per ESPN. \u201cSo they\u2019ve had no rush to sign Kimi or I because we\u2019ve got this longer-term, overriding deal in place.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor my whole career until last year, the team have supported me so much and given me such amazing opportunities. Our goals have been aligned, and what has been in the best interest of the team has also been in the best interest of me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese last six months have been a very unique situation where I don\u2019t have huge power in that sort of agreement, and maybe the interests were not aligned for some time, which has of course put me at risk for these last six months.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI still trust Toto and I still trust in the team that they will always support me as long as I\u2019m performing, so that\u2019s what I need to focus on.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut of course for both Kimi and I these past months have not been the most assuring for our future, and that\u2019s just been a bit conflicting.\u201d<\/p>\n
So while Russell and Antonelli will surely be re-signed, perhaps at the latter\u2019s home Italian Grand Prix, what\u2019s in the contracts will be illuminating of Mercedes\u2019s thinking. <\/p>\n
Despite speaking with Max Verstappen, Mercedes is set to renew its current driver line-up.Source: AFP<\/p>\n
RED BULL RACING AND RACING BULLS<\/p>\n
With a potential Max Verstappen disaster averted, the Red Bull program can now focus on what it wants to do with the rest of its interlinked driver line-up.<\/p>\n
Nothing seems certain in this post-Christian Horner environment save perhaps that Liam Lawson is not in the frame to return to Red Bull Racing \u2014 not that this is news; no driver has ever been demoted from Milton Keynes and returned.<\/p>\n
But while it\u2019s difficult to predict what will happen, there are limited options for the brand\u2019s three uncommitted seats.<\/p>\n
The biggest hinge is whether Yuki Tsunoda can convince Red Bull Racing to retain him next season.<\/p>\n
The Japanese star has been at best a like-for-like replacement for Sergio P\u00e9rez, his season at the senior team a combination of barely justifiable performance combined with some truly woeful lows.<\/p>\n
While he\u2019s unlikely to be dropped this year \u2014 the constructors title is already lost, and next year\u2019s cars are all new \u2014 he\u2019s at significant risk of being axed at the end of the season.<\/p>\n
Isack Hadjar, having impressed halfway through his rookie campaign, is favourite to replace him.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s good news for Lawson. If Hadjar moves on, Arvid Lindblad, the Red Bull junior currently contending in his maiden Formula 2 campaign, would take the vacant seat and not replace Lawson.<\/p>\n
What will happen, however, if Tsunoda is retained?<\/p>\n
There have been some genuine green shoots in the last two rounds \u2014 the first weekends of the Laurent Mekies era \u2014 in which his car has been brought closer to Verstappen\u2019s specification.<\/p>\n
In Belgium he was 0.342 seconds slower than Verstappen. As a percentage of the Dutchman\u2019s lap \u2014 to account for the longest circuit of the season \u2014 he lapped at 100.34 per cent of the pace, his smallest deficit to that point.<\/p>\n
In Hungary he was just 0.163 seconds off, or 100.22 per cent, even smaller still.<\/p>\n
In that case Lawson would present as the weakest link if Lindblad were to be promoted.<\/p>\n
His demise isn\u2019t a done deal, however. He has a chance to defend himself.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also shown signs of improvement in recent rounds.<\/p>\n
His average gap to Hadjar this season 0.247, but over the last four weekends the gap had shrunk to just 0.1 seconds. He also outqualified Hadjar for just the second time in that period, in Austria.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s finished ahead of Hadjar in three of the last four rounds, scoring points all three times. The Kiwi is now just one place and two points behind the Frenchman.<\/p>\n
We shouldn\u2019t forget that Lawson impressed in his cameo appearances over the past two seasons and that he has only marginally more experience than Hadjar. If he can overcome his very rough start to the year and finish ahead of his teammate, it would be hard to discredit the achievement.<\/p>\n
And given Lindblad has scored just twice in his last eight races \u2014 though he was stripped of a podium finish in the Belgium feature race for low tyre pressures \u2014 Lawson could make a compelling argument to keep the junior in Formula 2 and earn himself a reprieve. <\/p>\n
Could it be end of the line for Liam Lawson?Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
ALPINE<\/p>\n
What\u2019s going on at Alpine?<\/p>\n
Its decision after just six races to ditch Jack Doohan \u2014 a driver into which the team invested millions preparing for Formula 1 \u2014 has delivered nothing. Doohan\u2019s replacement, Franco Colapinto, has scored the same zero points in his eight Grand Prix weekends, has committed several significant crashes \u2014 including at a tyre test after the previous race \u2014 and has been roughly as distant to Gasly.<\/p>\n
He has, of course, added sponsorship to the team\u2019s coffers, and so far that seems to be proving decisive in keeping him in his seat.<\/p>\n
But the team has at least publicly intimated that the Argentine\u2019s seat is not as solid as that. Mercedes has been sounded out over releasing Valtteri Bottas sometime this season to add more experience to the mix.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to imagine Bottas joining the team for only a few months; presumably it would only be an option for the Finn if Cadillac were no longer an option.<\/p>\n
But the connection makes sense given Alpine <\/p>\n
If the team wants experience but can\u2019t get Bottas, P\u00e9rez could be an alternative, though rumours the Mexican was in talks with the French team appear to have boiled down to his biggest backer, the Mexican billionaire Slim family, sponsoring the team via Colapinto.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no other comparably experienced driver on the market \u2014 although if Tsunoda were to become available, Alpine would be silly not to consider reuniting him with former teammate Pierre Gasly.<\/p>\n
In that case Colapinto might get what Doohan never got: time to establish himself into 2026.<\/p>\n
The heat is on Franco Colapinto.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Formula 1 teams are officially on their two-week mandatory shutdown, but this is often the busiest time of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79196,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[40304,8421,40323,8895,40316,428,7614,3256,643,40329,7572,1665,28627,6539,40311,40337,40317,40324,40315,40332,40312,40320,14327,40306,21266,40305,32745,591,40327,1687,40299,31888,6542,372,6537,2356,40336,40330,9307,8222,40322,40338,1348,40302,40300,27931,40319,6543,1693,40328,40334,40325,3006,40298,8216,40310,6864,6932,14304,4051,40314,19889,7618,40307,40313,25131,40335,40318,40303,9734,371,40333,40331,19875,6931,28593,12227,101,40301,40326,56,54,5336,55,5536,12200,40321,40308,7942,40309],"class_list":["post-79195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-f1","tag-alessio-morgese","tag-america","tag-american-team","tag-andrea-kimi-antonelli","tag-arvid-lindblad","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-austria","tag-belgium","tag-cameo-appearances","tag-carlos-sainz","tag-charles-leclerc","tag-choice-words","tag-christian-horner","tag-constructors-title","tag-contract-lengths","tag-crunch-time-looms","tag-done-deal","tag-driver-contract","tag-driver-line-up","tag-driver-managers","tag-driver-role","tag-drivers-championship","tag-drivers-participate","tag-eastern-europe","tag-environment-save","tag-espn-inc","tag-europe","tag-experienced-driver","tag-f1","tag-favourable-escape-clause","tag-feature-race","tag-fernando-alonso","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-franco-colapinto","tag-french-team","tag-general-motors-company","tag-george-russell","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-home-continent","tag-home-italian","tag-hungary","tag-ideal-criteria","tag-interlinked-driver-line-up","tag-jack-doohan","tag-japanese-star","tag-lance-stroll","tag-lando-norris","tag-like-for-like-replacement","tag-long-term-deal","tag-management-agreement","tag-max-verstappen","tag-means-shorter-deals","tag-melbourne","tag-mexican-billionaire","tag-michael-schumacher","tag-mick-schumacher","tag-mid-season-break","tag-north-america","tag-north-american-appeal","tag-northern-america","tag-oceania","tag-off-cycle-campaign","tag-paul-aron","tag-penultimate-lap","tag-performance-clauses","tag-piastri-norris-inches","tag-podium-finish","tag-racing-bulls","tag-red-bull-racing","tag-reserve-driver","tag-rookie-campaign","tag-senior-team","tag-sergio-perez","tag-seven-time-champion","tag-silly-season","tag-sports","tag-two-week-mandatory-shutdown","tag-tyre-pressures","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-victoria","tag-western-europe","tag-young-american-driver","tag-young-gun","tag-yuki-tsunoda","tag-zero-points"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}