There’s always next year in sports and the grid for the 2025 Formula One is taking shape amid a flurry of silly season activity.
Elevens spots have now been filled following Saturday’s news RB had picked up the option on Yuki Tsunoda’s contract. That leaves nine seats still up for grabs.
Here’s how the grid is looking so far for next season with the latest news and reports.
Last updated: Sunday, June 9
ALPINE
2024: Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon
2025: TBD
Although Alpine haven’t said who will drive for the team next season, they have said who won’t be back. Alpine announced on June 3 they had agreed to part ways with Esteban Ocon at the end of the year. The news came just over a week after Ocon crashed into Pierre Gasly at the Monaco Grand Prix and it wasn’t the first incident between the two drivers who have been frenemies since childhood.
Ocon is in his fifth season with Alpine and earned his first career win with the team at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix. The 27-year-old has one podium finish since then, at Monaco last season, and has scored just a single point this year.
Gasly also only has one point this season after finishing 10th in Monaco, despite the opening lap collision, and hasn’t made a decision about his future yet.
“I think the market at the moment is quite open and everybody is aware of what opportunities are out there,” Gasly said, according to formula1.com. “At the moment I don’t really have too much detail on that. Everything is going well and I’m in discussions, and that’s about it.”
Alpine could promote reserve driver Jack Doohan, who briefly stepped into Ocon’s car for the first rainy practice at the Canadian Grand Prix. Whatever decision they make, hopefully Alpine learned their lesson from the 2022 Oscar Piastri fiasco (aka the Piasco) and will not make any premature announcements.
ASTON MARTIN
2024: Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll
2025: Fernando Alonso, TBD
The ageless Fernando Alonso signed a contract extension with Aston Martin in April. Alonso, who will actually be 43 years old when the 2025 season begins, has had a career renaissance since joining the team earning eight podiums and finishing fourth in the championship in 2023. The two-time world champion also scored points through the first six grands prix this year.
Although Aston Martin have yet to announce if Lance Stroll will return next season, considering his father owns the team, the second seat is likely his as long as he wants it.
FERRARI
2024: Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz
2025: Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton
Ferrari announced they had signed Charles Leclerc to an extension on Jan. 25, only to shift silly season into top gear (before the season even began) with a blockbuster announcement just days later that they had signed Lewis Hamilton to a multi-year contract beginning in 2025. Hamilton will be 40 next year, but he’s still driven (pardon the pun) to win a record-breaking eighth world championship.
That has left Carlos Sainz as the odd man out and a highly coveted free agent although his options are dwindling. Sainz has been linked to just about every team on the grid that has (or had) an open spot — and for good reason. The Spanish driver has earned three wins with Ferrari, including this year’s Australian Grand Prix, and sits fourth in the standings.
HAAS
2024: Nico Hulkenberg, Kevin Magnussen
2025: TBD
Things have been quiet (perhaps a little too quiet) at Haas although we know there will be at least one change with Nico Hulkenberg off to Sauber.
Kevin Magnussen made a splash finishing fifth in his return to Haas at the 2022 season opener in Bahrain, but since then has been accumulating almost as many penalty points as championship points. OK, slight exaggeration but Magnussen has just one point to his name this season with a 10th-place finish in Australia.
Considering their strong ties to Ferrari as an engine customer, could one of their top prospects like Ollie Bearman or Robert Shwartzman be considered for a seat at Haas? Maybe even both? Bearman, 19, currently competes in F2 and is a reserve driver for both Ferrari and Haas. He already made his F1 debut during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix filling in for Sainz, who missed the race while recovering from emergency appendix surgery. Shwartzman, 24, drives for Ferrari in the World Endurance Championship while also serving as a reserve driver for their F1 team.
MCLAREN
2024: Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri
2025: Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri
No changes are coming to McLaren, and for good reason, as Piastri earned his extension through to the end of 2026 during his rookie campaign last year while Norris inked a multi-year contract in January.
McLaren have returned to top form with Norris earning his first career victory at the Miami Grand Prix in May and has earned a total of 11 podiums over the past two seasons. Piastri just recently picked up his third career podium with a runner-up finish at the Monaco Grand Prix and continues to make strides during his sophomore season.
MERCEDES
2024: Lewis Hamilton, George Russell
2025: George Russell, TBD
George Russell re-signed with Mercedes on Aug. 31, 2023 — the same day the team also announced they had extended Hamilton for two years. As it turned out, Hamilton had an option on the second year and decided to join Ferrari for 2025. Oops.
Mercedes have a strong junior program (of which Russell was a graduate) and could turn to top prospect Kimi Antonelli to fill the second seat. The 17-year-old Italian fast-tracked through the ladder system skipping F3 to race in F2 this season. Antonelli had his first test session with Mercedes in Austria in April and participated in another test session a couple weeks later at Imola. If he’s not ready yet, Mercedes are keen to have him in the seat eventually.
“We want to focus on Kimi — that is our future,” Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff told Sky Sports F1.
RB
2024: Yuki Tsunoda, Daniel Ricciardo
2025: Yuki Tsunoda, TBD
Both seats were open for next season until RB announced just ahead of qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix that they had picked up the one-year option on Yuki Tsunoda’s contract.
Will Daniel Ricciardo return? The 34-year-old has only scored five points this season, all earned during the sprint race in Miami, and could be on the hot seat with Liam Lawson waiting in the wings. Lawson, 22, is the reserve driver for both Red Bull and sibling team RB and did an admirable job filling in for five grands prix last season when Ricciardo was recovering from a hand injury.
RED BULL
2024: Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez
2025: Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez
The three-time reigning world champion Max Verstappen is in it for the long haul saying he will honour his contract with Red Bull to 2028.
Sergio Perez was the big question mark as a pending free agent, but Red Bull answered that by signing him to a two-year contract extension on June 4. The Mexican driver has aided Red Bull in capturing back-to-back constructors’ championships — with the team No. 1 in the standings this year as well — and Verstappen called his teammate a “legend” over the radio after helping him win his first drivers’ title in 2021.
SAUBER
2024: Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu
2025: Nico Hulkenberg, TBD
The Sauber squad have one spot filled for next season and it’s neither of their current drivers. Veteran journeyman Hulkenberg, who drove for Sauber in 2013, announced in April he will be rejoining the team next season. The lone German driver on the grid will arrive a year ahead of Audi’s takeover of the team in 2026.
That leaves Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu to duel for the final spot, but it could be a total house cleaning for Sauber. Sainz and Ocon have been linked to the second seat, according to formula1.com.
WILLIAMS
2024: Alex Albon, Logan Sargeant
2025: Alex Albon, TBD
Alex Albon was already under contract for next season and signed a (you guessed it) multi-year contract extension in May. The British-born Thai driver had a comeback season last year and picked up his first points of 2024 just recently at the Monaco Grand Prix with a ninth-place finish.
Sophomore Logan Sargeant is in danger of losing his seat, having earned just one point during his tenure with the team, and has finished no higher than 14th this year.
Team principal James Vowles has a “shortlist” of two drivers in mind with Sainz appearing to be one of them, according to formula1.com.
“It’s been highlighted that there’s one or two options for [Sainz] and we’re very much one of those two,” Vowles said during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. “I personally think we’re the right option — it’s a good match made together, but the choice remains, of course, his.”
