F1 Silly Season 2025: Do the top teams dare to surprise?

In 2026, Formula 1's technical rules are going through a majoroverhaul, meaning the 2025 season will play an important role inpreparation. As a result, many F1 teams will likely opt forexperience in 2025, because you want to perform well in the new eraas soon as possible. Experience will often win out over talent inthe early years and so it seems that there will also be manyexperienced and older drivers on the grid in 2025 and 2026.However, there are also some strong talents coming up. As a team,you obviously don't want to miss them. A dilemma for F1 teams,then. Even though the 2024 season has yet to start, we have listedthe contracts of current drivers and also look at the candidatesvying for the seats of current drivers for each team. Red BullRacing Max Verstappen is still with Red Bull Racing until 2028, andit does not appear that the three-time world champion wants toleave the team early either. However, it will be interesting to seehow good the new Ford/Red Bull Powertrains engine will be in 2026.While Verstappen can quietly watch how everything at the team willplay out in the coming years, teammate Sergio Perez has yet to waitfor a decision on his future. Despite finishing second in the worldchampionship in 2023, Perez did not make a stable impression andthat is what he was hired for. Based on his experience, Red Bullhopes to have in Perez a driver who can perform consistently. Thatwas not the case in 2023, so Perez will have to perform better in2024. Still, his contract could just be extended if performancedoes perform well in 2024. Indeed, in addition to the sportingaspects, Perez is also an interesting driver financially for RedBull Racing. The Mexican market is large and, in addition, Perezhimself brings some sponsors to the team. Drivers vying for Perez'sseat are, first and foremost, Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson. Thelatter left a strong impression at a number of races in 2023, butwill not complete a full F1 season for now. The question, then, iswhether Lawson will be able to perform alongside Verstappen. Areturn of Alex Albon does not seem obvious at this time. However,given his performance, Albon will believe he would do better thistime around at Verstappen's side, so no doubt Albon's managementwill knock on Red Bull's door this year. In fact, given Albonmanagement's short line to Red Bull, this may have alreadyhappened. Of course, where the drivers must perform, the managersmust also continue to engage in discussions with the various teams.Preliminary lineup Red Bull 2025 : Max Verstappen & SergioPerez Options to replace Perez : Daniel Ricciardo, Alexander Albon,Liam Lawson Mercedes In 2023 there were some rumors here and thereabout Lewis Hamilton's future, but nevertheless the seven-timeworld champion signed on through 2025. Teammate George Russell willalso stay with Mercedes until the end of 2025. The question iswhether Hamilton will remain with the team after that. After all,he will turn 41 in 2026. Should he leave, there is just a chancethat Toto Wolff will take a risk with Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Thepromising Italian talent will get a chance to prove himself inFormula 2 in 2024, and if that works out well, he could have achance in F1 in 2025. Should that scenario play out, with one yearof F1 experience, would he be ready to take over Hamilton's seat?Preliminary lineup Mercedes 2025 : Lewis Hamilton & GeorgeRussell Ferrari At the end of 2023, Italian media were convincedthat both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz would re-sign with theScuderia before the end of the year. The year passed and stillthere are no signatures on the new contracts. Nevertheless, itseems increasingly likely that both drivers will re-sign for atleast two seasons. Leclerc and Sainz would thus be under contractwith Ferrari at least until the end of 2026. In Leclerc's case, itseems he will even have the chance to sign a five-year contract. Inthis way, Ferrari is clearly opting for a future with Leclerc andSainz will still wonder if he will not become the second driver.Given the intentions of all parties, Ferrari seems to continue onthe same path in 2025 and 2026. Still, drivers like Alexander Albonand Pierre Gasly will be lurking to see if they have a chance totake over Sainz's seat. The longer the contract negotiations withSainz and Leclerc will take, the more rumors surrounding theScuderia will come out. Preliminary lineup Ferrari 2025 : CharlesLeclerc & Carlos Sainz Possible options to replace Carlos Sainz: Pierre Gasly, Alexander Albon McLaren Andrea Stella and Zak Brownclearly have a long-term strategy in mind. This included pickingseveral engineers away from other teams and extending both drivers'contracts through 2023. As a result, Lando Norris is under contractthrough 2025 and Oscar Piastri through 2026. Is this vision anddecisiveness going to ensure that we see McLaren become achallenger to Red Bull in 2024 and 2025? In any case, there is alsomore clarity at the top of the team, especially since an equityfund from Bahrain now owns the entire shares. At least thefoundations for success seem to have been laid at McLaren.Preliminary lineup McLaren 2025 : Lando Norris & Oscar PiastriAston Martin At first glance, little appears to be going to changeat Aston Martin in 2025. We should see both Fernando Alonso andLance Stroll back in 2025. We regularly hear rumours that ownerLawrence Stroll would like to sell the team and the car brand, butfor now those rumours remain. Aramco will be the team's sole mainsponsor from 2024, though, and is occasionally mentioned as apossible party to buy the team. Those rumors are still not concreteeither. Honda will supply the engines in 2026 and it remains to beseen whether the Japanese want to continue with Alonso. TheSpaniard and the Japanese car brand do not have the bestrelationship with each other, to say the least. Preliminary lineupAston Martin 2025 : Fernando Alonso & Lance Stroll Alpine BothPierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon are facing expiring contracts atAlpine. Gasly has an option in the contract, allowing him tocontinue driving for the team in 2025. Ocon does not appear to havethis option and will therefore have to sit down with the team'smanagement again. Of course, Ocon will also look around, but theredo not seem to be many options for the Frenchman in 2025. Ocon willhave to prove himself against Gasly again this year. Gasly, infact, picked up more points than Ocon in his debut year with theteam. Whereas Gasly will be looking for an opening at Ferrari, Oconseems best to focus immediately on extending his contract atAlpine. At Alpine, he is a familiar face, he won a Grand Prix forthe team and as a factory team, always has the chance to makestrides forward. Therefore, it does not seem to make sense for Oconto move to a team that finished below the French racing stable in2023. Preliminary lineup Alpine 2025 : Pierre Gasly & EstebanOcon Options : Alexander Albon, Logan Sargeant, Felipe Drugovich,Theo Pourchaire, Jack Doohan, Viktor Martins Williams Also atWilliams we see expiring contracts. Alex Albon and Logan Sargeantwill see their contracts expire at the end of 2024. Sargeant willhave to show substantial improvement to win a new contract, whileAlbon will initially look to make a step up. Albon is doing greatat Williams, so it makes sense that he would hope for a seat with abigger team. Those seats are not up for grabs, however, and so atthis point it would be a surprise if Albon could make the move to,say, Ferrari or Red Bull in 2025. After all, Sainz appears to beslamming the door at Ferrari, and at Red Bull it remains to be seenwhether Christian Horner and Helmut Marko are actually willing togive Albon a second chance. Albon and his management will lookaround the major teams as much as possible this year, because inthe form Albon is in, he seems to be an ideal driver for a topteam. Williams, for its part, will also be looking ahead, however.In 2025, they may well arrive at the start with a surprise. Indeed,rumors are circulating that Kimi Antonelli could make an immediatemove to Formula 1 if he performs well during his debut year inFormula 2. Manager Toto Wolff would then be happy to have theItalian in action at Williams, where Mercedes supplies the engines.Thus, the pressure on Sargeant increases before the season has evenstarted. Preliminary lineup Williams 2025 : Alexander Albon Options: Logan Sargeant, Kimi Antonelli, Gabriel Bortoleto, FelipeDrugovich AlphaTauri The team that no longer wants to be Red Bull'straining team, but will still remain a B-team. And so the Italianracing stable will undoubtedly be forced to put a Red Bull talentin the car in 2025. With that, Liam Lawson's chances of getting apermanent seat in F1 seem to be increasing. Indeed, the NewZealander impressed during his debut races in 2023 and, if it is upto Helmut Marko, Lawson will get a seat in F1 in 2025. Logically,that would be a seat at AlphaTauri, where both Daniel Ricciardo andYuki Tsunoda's contracts expire at the end of 2024. Ricciardo hopesto make the return to Red Bull after that, while Tsunoda is justhoping to beat his teammate. In that scenario, it will have to bedone with a lot of conviction before the Japanese will have achance at Red Bull. Because both Horner and Marko seem unconvincedabout Tsunoda. With that, a seat for him at AlphaTauri in 2025 isnot certain either and so two seats may become vacant at the team.Lawson is then a contender for a seat, and in addition Ayumu Iwasais also occasionally linked to the team. Honda reportedly wants topush Iwasa's career. With those rumors, it is clear that thepressure will once again be on Tsunoda's shoulders. The Japanesedriver experienced great improvement in recent years, but will needto make another big move in 2024 to secure his 2025 seat. It willbe an important season for Tsunoda, as a strong year could also puthim on Aston Martin's radar for 2026. Starting that year, theSilverstone-based team will be in action with Honda engines and theengine supplier may want to see a Japanese driver return to theteam. Preliminary lineup AlphaTauri 2025 : Yuki Tsunoda Options :Daniel Ricciardo, Liam Lawson, Ayumu Iwasa Stake F1 Team ValtteriBottas and Guanyu Zhou are both facing expiring contracts and lookset to leave the Swiss-based team at the end of the season. Indeed,in 2025, the team wants to prepare for the future with Audi. TheGerman car brand owns the team from 2026 and seems to have alreadyset its sights on Nico Hulkenberg. The experienced German drivershould play a major role in the team's transition phase. A nicemove for Hulkenberg, who in 2026 may just be lucky enough for Audito build an amazing engine that would allow them to compete at thefront. Crazier things have happened in Formula 1, so never saynever. As for the second seat, it is still unclear what the teamwants to do in 2025. When Hulkenberg is actually brought in, theywill have to decide whether they want an experienced second driveror whether they want to give a young talent the chance. Bottas andZhou may fall under experienced drivers for 2025, but for now theydo not seem to be high on the team's list. Talents abound, but itis still unclear who has the best papers in hand at the moment.Both Audi and the team still have time to decide. Preliminarylineup : None Options : Nico Hulkenberg, Guanyu Zhou, Esteban Ocon,Gabriel Bortoleto, Felipe Drugovich, Theo Pourchaire, Carlos SainzHaas F1 Haas went on the experienced tour after lesser performancesby Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin. The now departed team bossGuenther Steiner opted for Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen, butperformance did not improve much. Indeed, Haas finished last in theconstructors' championship. With Hulkenberg most likely leaving atthe end of 2024, there will be at least one seat vacant at Haas for2025. It could well be filled by Oliver Bearman. The talentedBritish driver will compete in Formula 2 for the second year in2024 and will have to compete for the title there to make the move.Bearman does seem to have an advantage as a Ferrari Academy driver,given the relationship Haas has with Ferrari. The team will nodoubt want an experienced driver alongside Bearman or anotherrookie, so Magnussen still has a chance at a contract extension.Perhaps Bottas is also an option for the American team should henot renew at Stake F1 Team. Preliminary lineup : None Options :Kevin Magnussen, Oliver Bearman, Felipe Drugovich, Valtteri Bottas