The F1 drivers out of contract at the end of 2024 season

At the start of this year, more than half of all F1 drivers had contracts that expired at the end of 2024 and, at the final race weekend, there are still five of them without an F1 contract for 2025.

The chequered flag looks to be flying for the F1 careers of both Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen, while Zhou Guanyu also looks like he’ll be absent from next year’s grid but may have a chance to come back in 2026

The outlook is brighter for Liam Lawson and Franco Colapinto, who were both parachuted in to replace Daniel Ricciardo and Logan Sargeant mid-season: Lawson could well be partnering Max Verstappen at Red Bull next year, and Colapinto is on the radar of a number of teams. He could still be on the grid in 2025, but may have to take a reserve role and target a full-time 2026 seat.

In contrast to last year, when there were no end-of-season driver changes for the first time in history, 2024 has seen plenty of activity and a wave of new drivers replacing veterans in 2025.

Jack Doohan has been promoted into a full-time seat with Alpine. F2 sensation Ollie Bearman will join Haas and Mercedes has signed Kimi Antonelli. There’s also a space for F2 championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto at Sauber, while a reshuffle at Red Bull could yet open the door to Isack Hadjar.

There’s even more at stake than usual, as drivers and teams look ahead to a rule shake-up in 2026 when new power units and chassis regulations are introduced. It’s likely to see a reshuffle in F1’s performance order, which could suddenly see a midfield team fighting for the title. Making the right move now could be a world championship-winning decision for one driver — if they manage to pick the right team.

With one race remianing, there are still a number of decisions to be made. Here are the F1 drivers still needing to secure their futures this season.

All drivers out of contract for 2025

Franco Colapinto

Williams

Franco Colapinto burst on to the F1 scene at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix as Williams’ mid-season replacement for Logan Sargeant who showed flickers of potential but was costing the team too much — both in terms of the damage caused by frequent crashes, and in missed opportunities to score championship points.

Colapinto already knew that his contract would last for just nine races, given that Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon are signed for 2025, and he wasted no time in putting himself in the shop window.

A solid 12th place at Monza was followed by a sensational Azerbaijan GP weekend where Colapinto picked himself up after a practice crash to get through to the final Q3 stage and outqualify team-mate Alex Albon, whose final flying lap was compromised. He picked up his first points, thanks to an eighth-place finish in the race, and followed that up with a tenth-place finish in Austin, two races later.

By then, he was being linked to the vacant seat at RB. The hype subsided after an error led to a big crash in Las Vegas, ahead of a low-key race in Qatar. But while his RB hopes have diminished, Colapinto has also caught the eye of Alpine.

Despite Jack Doohan having a contract for 2025, there have been suggestions that he could lose that seat to the Argentine rookie. Mucj is likely to depend on Doohan’s performance in Abu Dhabi, where he makes his grand prix debut in place of the deposed Esteban Ocon.

Liam Lawson

RB

Like Colapinto, Liam Lawson was parachuted into an F1 seat mid-season, after Daniel Ricciardo’s time finally ran out. His contract runs until the end of the year

Many thought that he should have been given the seat at the start of the season, thanks to his substitute performances in 2023, when he stood in for an injured Ricciardo. That spell saw him finishing ahead of team-mate Yuki Tsunoda in two of the three grands prix that they both finished and outqualifying him once.

His task in 2024 was to prove that he was ready for the big time — a seat alongside Max Verstappen to replace the underperforming Sergio Perez next season.

It’s fair to say that the result hasn’t been decisive. While his first race back brought a points finish, he also got involved in an inadvisable tangle with Perez in Mexico and had a messy Qatar GP, spinning a the safety car restart.

With unarguable pace, a fearless approach to racing and an assured manner, it would be a surprise if Lawson wasn’t on the grid in 2025 and he remains favourite to replace Red Bull given the absence of another heavyweight — and available option.

If Perez stays, or Tsunoda is favoured, then expect to see Lawson return to RB next year.

Zhou Guanyu 

Sauber

Having become a reliable choice for Alfa Romeo (now Sauber), Zhou signed a one-season extension for the rebranded outfit last year. Zhou and teammate Valtteri Bottas have become a solid pairing despite the disappointing cars they have been given this season and last, but

neither driver has had their contract renewed for 2025.

Instead, Nico Hülkenberg and rookie Gabriel Bortoleto make up an all-new line-up for the team ahead of its rebrand to Audi in 2026.

That leaves Zhou out in the cold for now: there doesn’t appear to be space on the F1 grid for 2025, but we could well see him in a reserve role — and there’s also a suggestion that he may have a chance with the new Cadillac team that will enter F1 in 2026.

Valtteri Bottas

Sauber

Everyone’s favourite calendar model had his eyes set on a contract extension at Sauber but — along with team-mate Zhou — he will leave the team at the end of 2024.

In recent years Bottas has proven himself as an experienced and well-liked figurehead within the team, as well as a willing participant in sponsors’ promotion.

That has seen him linked with a reserve role at Mercedes where he’ll be a popular ambassador for the team, as well as a solid stand-in should George Russell or Kimi Antonelli have to miss a race in 2025.

Kevin Magnussen

Haas

Having secured Haas’s first-ever pole position in 2022, Magnussen faced a difficult 2023 with a car that didn’t suit him, costing him valuable places in qualifying.

He still secured a one-year extension to see him through 2024, but with owner Gene Haas aiming to make the team bolder and more ambitious in 2025, it’s been decided that the Dane will not retain his seat for next season. Ferrari Academy driver Oliver Bearman signed a multi-year deal with the American outfit and he will be joined by Esteban Ocon.

There’s been talk of a continued role at Haas, in a reserve or ambassadorial role, but Magnussen has already been signed as a works driver for BMW’s sports car team next year.