Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes – Contract until the end of 2023
Lewis Hamilton’s current contract with Mercedes was announced at the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix when the Briton was mid-way through the single-season deal he had signed in earlier in the same year.
With the seven-time champion available for hire for 2024, speculation linked him with a move to Ferrari, although this has been dismissed by all parties.
Hamilton joined Mercedes in 2013 and it had been anticipated that a fresh contract would be forthcoming when team principal Toto Wolff said in early June that it was a matter of "days, not weeks" for a deal to be completed.
However, this has not happened. Although it is not thought that financial arrangements are behind the delay, with smaller contractual wranglings such as sponsorship commitments cited instead, Hamilton currently remains a free agent for 2024.
Zhou Guanyu – Alfa Romeo – Contract until the end of 2023
After Alfa Romeo opted to release Antonio Giovinazzi at the end of 2021, when Kimi Raikkonen also retired, three-year Formula 2 driver Zhou Guanyu was signed to race alongside Valtteri Bottas on a one-year deal for 2022.
This was extended to cover the 2023 season ahead of last year’s Singapore GP. Although Zhou’s Alfa and F1 future is uncertain in contractual terms, he is nevertheless putting together a quietly impressive campaign in a car that struggles to regularly feature in the points-paying positions.
Daniel Ricciardo – AlphaTauri – Contract until the end of 2023
Daniel Ricciardo rejoined the team where he raced towards the beginning of his F1 career in 2012-13 (he made his debut with HRT in 2011) ahead of the 2023 Hungarian GP, replacing Nyck de Vries. But he is only on loan from Red Bull’s senior squad where he was previously a part-time reserve driver after leaving McLaren in 2022.
Ricciardo is targeting a promotion back to Red Bull over Sergio Perez in the future, which could come as early as 2024 if he performs well for AlphaTauri over the remaining races in 2022. But 2025 is more likely if such a switch ever comes off.
Yuki Tsunoda – AlphaTauri – Contract until the end of 2023
Yuki Tsunoda is the most recent driver to be promoted to F1 from Red Bull’s junior programme and has raced for AlphaTauri since the 2021 season. He signed a one-year contract extension for 2022 and then did so again to cover the 2023 campaign ahead of last year’s Singapore GP.
The Japanese driver has a reputation for wild, rapid driving, but he lacks consistency and has had several big crashes following enforced errors. He was also required to relocate to Italy from the UK (he previously lived near Red Bull’s Milton Keynes factory to drive its F1 simulator) to improve his training and work closer with AlphaTauri.
He is now at the end of the three-year stint outgoing AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost insists all drivers require when they join F1, which was not extended to de Vries. The Dutchman’s exit, however, eases pressure on Tsunoda as he’s no longer the more experienced, but younger, AlphaTauri racer.
Logan Sargeant – Williams – Contract until the end of 2023
American racer Logan Sargeant joined Williams as a junior driver in late 2021 – the British-based team having been bought by US private investment firm Dorilton Capital from its founding family in 2020. At the 2022 US GP, then-Williams team principal Jost Capito announced that then Formula 2 racer Sargeant would be promoted to F1 for 2023 if he secured the necessary superlicence points, which he did, via four 2022 F1 practice outings and taking fourth in that year’s F2 championship.
Sargeant was announced as a Williams driver for 2023 following last year’s Abu Dhabi GP, with no mention of the deal being a multi-year arrangement. After 10 races in his rookie campaign, Sargeant is yet to score a point but has the public backing of new Williams team boss James Vowles.
Kevin Magnussen – Haas – Contract until at least the end of 2023
Back in 2020, Haas opted to drop Kevin Magnussen and his then team-mate Romain Grosjean as it moved towards F1’s 2022 car design rules reset with two young rookies. One of those was Nikita Mazepin, who lost his seat with Haas following the sanctions imposed on Russians in the wake of their country invading Ukraine in February 2022 and Haas terminating its title sponsorship agreement with his father’s company. Just four days later, Magnussen was rehired by Haas on a multi-year deal.
This is expected to run out at the end of 2023, but with Magnussen thought likely to earn an extension as part of Haas’s now settled future – following its late-2022 deal with title sponsor MoneyGram. The Dane and team-mate Nico Hulkenberg do not have the occasionally fractious relationship as that between Magnussen and Grosjean during their four years as Haas squad-mates (despite their famous “suck my balls, honey” bust-up at the 2017 Hungarian GP) and Mazepin and Mick Schumacher in 2021.
Nico Hulkenberg – Haas – Contract until at least the end of 2023
After spending two years without a full-time F1 ride, Nico Hulkenberg was announced as driving for Haas in 2023 as a replacement for the crash-prone Schumacher. The German’s contract reportedly contains an option to cover 2024 as well, but this was not announced as a multi-year agreement.
Having been dropped by Renault at the end of 2019 in favour of Esteban Ocon, Hulkenberg became known as ‘F1’s super-sub’ during the COVID-19 impacted seasons, as he replaced Perez and Lance Stroll at Racing Point in 2020, and then Sebastian Vettel at what had since become known as Aston Martin for two races in 2022.
The 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours winner has started 191 F1 races without scoring a podium but has shone regularly for Haas in 2023 – particularly in qualifying.
Sergio Perez – Red Bull – Contract until the end of 2024
Perez is contracted to Red Bull until the end of 2024, per the terms of a deal he signed at the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix he won – famously being caught by a podium TV camera telling team principal Christian Horner that he had "signed too soon".
Perez’s form in 2022 and 2023 appeared to be in line with Red Bull’s expectations in terms of challenging team-mate Max Verstappen, but his lack of pace compared to the Dutchman has been exposed when F1 left its now typical early-season street tracks and heads to higher-speed venues. This has led to speculation he could be replaced by Daniel Ricciardo for 2024, although an assessment concerning a 2025 change is more probable.
Charles Leclerc – Ferrari – Contract until the end of 2024
Charles Leclerc’s current Ferrari deal is the oldest in F1 right now, with the Scuderia moving to snap up his services until the end of 2024 back in December 2019 after it identified him as its immediate new star and not incumbent Vettel, who was effectively dumped just a few months later.
Leclerc waited patiently through Ferrari’s following fallow years in 2020 and 2021 – shining where he could around his team’s engine power deficit in those years – before leading its title charge after the rules reset for 2022. That challenge fell apart through a series of team and driver mistakes and poor reliability, with 2023 so far really no better for either Ferrari or Leclerc.
The two sides have “slowly” started talking this summer about a third new contract of the Monegasque’s stint in red, but he is regularly linked with potential moves away if things don’t improve. In any case, he currently has the ear of Ferrari’s top management, which could prove to be critical.
Carlos Sainz – Ferrari – Contract until the end of 2024
Carlos Sainz signed his current deal with Ferrari back in April last year, which was the second and final season of his initial contract with the Scuderia after he had signed to replace Vettel for 2021 in early 2020 following six years racing for Toro Rosso, Renault and McLaren.
His current arrangement runs out at the same time as that of team-mate Leclerc. But Sainz has said he is content to wait until the 2023/2024 off-season before starting negotiations with Ferrari about a possible extension. Paddock rumour has repeatedly linked him with a possible future move to Audi when it completes its Sauber takeover for 2026, but he has denied any talks with the automotive giant.
Esteban Ocon – Alpine – Contract until the end of 2024
Esteban Ocon exited his position as a long-term Mercedes junior when he signed to race in 2020 for the team then known as Renault. A year on, he agreed to his current deal, which ties him to the rebranded Alpine squad until the end of the 2024 season.
Just a month later, Ocon scored his first F1 win with his victory in the chaotic 2021 Hungarian GP. He has since claimed one more podium (he took his first with second place in the 2020 Sakhir GP) in a period that covered a combustible partnership with former team-mate Fernando Alonso, before Alpine signed his former junior racing rival Pierre Gasly as the Spaniard’s second-choice replacement following its 2022 summer contract saga over Oscar Piastri.
George Russell – Mercedes – Contract until at least the end of 2024
George Russell was announced as a Mercedes driver back in September 2021, with the team stating he was signed to a long-term contract. Although there has never been any official confirmation of how long the Briton has remaining on his current deal, it is understood to run until at least the end of 2024.
Russell, who was a Mercedes junior driver from early 2017 and through his three-year stint with Williams commencing his F1 career in 2019, is well-regarded at the Black Arrows squad for his precise feedback and technical knowledge. He scored his first win for the team at the 2022 Sao Paulo GP. Russell is also the only active driver director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association.
Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin – Contract until at least the end of 2024
Just as the 2022 summer break was commencing, Alonso shocked F1 by abandoning his previous contract talks with the Alpine team he then raced for and joining Aston Martin following Vettel’s retirement announcement.
He was signed on a “multi-year contract”, which covers at least the current campaign and the next. But with ‘2+1’ deals commonplace in F1, it stands to reason that the Spaniard would’ve signed on knowing he might be racing for Aston until the end of 2025, with Alpine’s questions over his age (he is currently 41) a major factor in why he decided to jump ship when Lawrence Stroll’s team came calling.
Oscar Piastri – McLaren – Contract until at least the end of 2024
After Alonso’s departure left Alpine in the lurch this time last year, the Enstone squad was then left further wounded after it discovered at practically the same time that it had let then reserve driver Piastri slip away to McLaren for 2023, after the papaya team had decided to ditch the underperforming Ricciardo.
After a case that went to the FIA’s Formula 1’s Contract Recognition Board, it was determined that McLaren’s agreement to sign the Australian for 2023 was his only valid offer. Piastri then replaced Ricciardo as Lando Norris’s team-mate, and was announced on a “multi-year” contract that will run until at least the end of 2024 but should logically include an extension option for 2025 too within the ‘2+1’ norm.
Pierre Gasly – Alpine – Contract until at least the end of 2024
Gasly’s current contract with Alpine was announced at the 2022 Japanese GP – a move that ended that year’s driver market saga, which had been kicked off by Vettel’s retirement and Alonso’s surprise departure from Alpine.
Having been a Red Bull junior since 2014, Gasly was promoted to its senior team as a replacement for Ricciardo alongside Verstappen for 2019. But he was replaced by Alex Albon after just 12 mostly underwhelming races and had no way to move back up from the AlphaTauri team he had been shipped to after this – despite Albon also struggling in 2020 to the point he was replaced at Red Bull by Perez for 2021 and Gasly winning that year’s Italian GP.
Having initially been confirmed as racing for AlphaTauri in 2023, an agreement was reached that meant his Alpine offer for 2023 could be accepted instead and the Frenchman finally exited the Red Bull family for good.
Valtteri Bottas – Alfa Romeo – Contract until at least the end of 2024
After Mercedes opted to end his five-year stint as Hamilton’s team-mate and replace him with Russell for 2022, Valtteri Bottas signed for the Sauber-run Alfa Romeo squad on what was described when it was announced as a “multi-year” deal that commenced last season. This could run as long as long as four years to the end of 2025.
Bottas was regularly re-signed on single-year deals during his time at Mercedes and is known to relish his long-term future in F1 being secure. He has already stated his desire to continue racing for his current team when it becomes Audi in 2026.
Alex Albon – Williams – Contract until at least the end of 2024
Albon was given a surprise move into F1 just when he was about to start a new career racing for Nissan in Formula E, when Red Bull signed him back to the junior programme he had been a part of for one season racing in Formula Renault in 2012 and gave him a Toro Rosso seat for 2019. This then became a spot at its main squad alongside Verstappen mid-way through that year, before, like Gasly before him he was moved aside.
Albon then spent 2021 on the sidelines supporting Verstappen and Perez, before he secured a one-year deal to race for Williams in 2022. Over that season’s summer break, Albon was announced as continuing with Williams on a multi-year deal that is set to run until at least the end of 2024, but he too may have a ‘2+1’ option. The London-born Thai racer has shone in qualifying for Williams, is well-liked amongst his peers and the wider paddock group, and has scored several impressive points finishes with tricky cars.
Lando Norris – McLaren – Contract until the end of 2025
Norris is predicted to be another star set to play a big role in the next major shake-up of the F1 driver market, despite his current contract with McLaren lasting until the end of the current rules era in 2025. He signed that deal just ahead of the 2022 campaign commencing, nine months on from his previous multi-year extension with McLaren being agreed in May 2021.
Norris nearly won two races that year, but currently remains scoreless at the top level in single-seaters, which perhaps explains his often flippant comments this season about the performance of McLaren’s first ground-effect cars – given the orange team has slipped down the pecking order since 2021.
Norris is also regularly linked to a future Audi move and is a friend of Verstappen, with Red Bull having tried to sign him as an F1 junior back in 2018 before the first time he committed his long-term future to McLaren.
Max Verstappen – Red Bull – Contract until the end of 2028
Red Bull’s second world champion signed his current deal barely three months after sealing his first title at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which will keep him tied to his current team until the end of 2028. He had said after winning that race that: “I think they know I love them. And I hope we can do this for 10-15 years together. There's no reason to change ever. I want to stay with them for the rest of my life.”
Since then, Verstappen has regularly voiced his frustration at changes to F1’s format – primarily concerning expanding the sprint race arrangements – which some incorrectly interpreted as a threat to quit F1 at the end of his current contract. Elsewhere, this has been translated as a tactic to raise his salary.
Lance Stroll – Aston Martin – Contract duration unknown
Stroll has raced for the team now known as Aston Martin since 2019 when it was rebranded as Racing Point following the consortium headed by his father Lawrence buying what remained of the Force India squad (formed as Jordan in 1991) the previous year. In moving across, Stroll left the Williams team where he had started his career in 2017.
Given his status as the Aston chairman’s son, it has never been formally disclosed how long Stroll’s contract is with the green team, if indeed he has one in such typical terms, beyond the arrangement being called a "long-term deal" when it was announced in late 2018.
Although he has secured three podiums and one pole, his F1 future is often discussed given his enhanced ‘pay driver’ tag in his team-owning-family status. This speculation has intensified with Aston’s major performance improvement and his big points and pace gap to Alonso so far in 2023. His future is nevertheless secure so long as he and his father want to continue their F1 dream.
