2024 F1 driver line-ups: Lawson in for Ricciardo at RB

At the beginning of the 2024 F1 season, driver line-up was identical to last year: for the first time in the history of the world championship, every team and driver was set to remain unchanged from one season to the next.

However, that grid won’t make it to the end of the season – Daniel Ricciardo has now been released by Visa Cash App RB, to be replaced by Liam Lawson and Williams has swapped Logan Sargeant for Franco Colapinto. We already knew that there would be other changes in 2025, with news of Lewis Hamilton’s impending deal with Ferrari and Nico Hülkenberg moving to Sauber.

Although several contracts did expire at the end of 2023, all of were extended by at least a year. Drivers at risk of being dropped managed a late surge in form, including Sargeant who was out-qualified and out-scored by Alex Albon at every round, but picked himself up from a series of errors to finish tenth in Austin and pick up his first point. Back in America for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, he qualified seventh.

Another driver who dipped in form was Sergio Perez who won two of the first four races, then lost an alarming amount of ground to team-mate Max Verstappen, who was often leading comfortably while Perez scrapped in the midfield. But he too, recovered towards the end of the year and secured his seat.

Elsewhere, AlphaTauri renamed itself Visa Cash App RB but retained Yuki Tsunoda and Ricciardo, with Lawson left on the sidelines despite impressing as a stand-in for the injured Ricciardo. Similarly, Mercedes, Haas and Alfa Romeo — now known as Stake F1 confirmed that their line-ups would remain unchanged. Ahead of the start of the season, Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc have signed contract extensions.

Here’s the current version of the 2024 F1 grid.

Confirmed 2024 F1 driver and team line-ups

Click on any team for more details or scroll down for full commentary

Stake F1 2024 driver line-up

Valtteri Bottas	Zhou Guanyu

• Valtteri Bottas is midway through a three-year deal
• Zhou Guanyu signs extended deal for 2024
• Team name changed to Stake F1 – Audi may look to make significant changes before 2026 entry

A disappointing 2023 campaign demoted the Alfa Romeo-badged Sauber team to the back of the pack, despite hopes that the team would become a midfield contender in what may be their final F1 season.

This year Sauber has handed naming rights to the gambling firm Stake, adopted a lurid green livery and made promises of a “new era”, although this will only last for two years until it becomes an Audi works team in 2026.

Valtteri Bottas has been the team’s undisputed leader since joining in 2021, and will enter the final year of a three-year deal that keeps him with the team until the end of the 2024 season.

Zhou Guanyu’s position on the grid was also confirmed for 2024, following signs of progress throughout his 2023 campaign. He finished his second F1 campaign just four points shy of his team-mate in the drivers’ standings, having scored top ten finishes in Australia, Spain and Qatar.

Beyond next year however, both Bottas and Zhou re-enter realms of uncertainty. Sauber has already announced Nico Hülkenberg as a driver for 2025, and Carlos Sainz has been linked to the second seat.

Visa Cash App RB 2024 F1 driver line-up

Yuki Tsunoda	Daniel Ricciardo

• Yuki Tsunoda retained on a one-year deal
• Daniel Ricciardo was signed for 2024, but has been dropped after Singapore
• Liam Lawson now replaces Daniel Ricciardo

At one point Red Bull teams occupied the very front and the very back of the F1 grid in 2023, with AlphaTauri bringing up the rear.

But that name is no more and with the new Visa Cash App RB branding, new team boss Laurent Mekies — formerly of Ferrari — is hoping to storm the midfield. It’s working more closely with its sister team, sharing more parts and following a similar design to that of last year’s championship-winning car,

It was hoping that consistency on the driver front also helps pull it out of the mire, having confirmed Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo for another year.

There were revolving doors at the team last year after Nyck de Vries was out mid-season. The 2021 Formula E champion was pushed out in favour of Daniel Ricciardo, who was then injured after two races. Liam Lawson was been an impressive stand-in, but hasn’t made the cut for 2024.

Instead he was designated as a reserve, but the team strongly suggested that it would sign him for 2025. Following Ricciardo’s poor performance so far in 2024, it’s now moved to put Lawson in for the rest of this season – with the view of keeping him there next year.

Alpine 2024 F1 driver line-up

Esteban Ocon	Pierre Gasly

• Esteban Ocon contracted until 2025
• Pierre Gasly has multi-year deal
• Alpine’s future secured

After the sudden departure of Fernando Alonso and its failure to retain Oscar Piastri, Alpine paired Esteban Ocon with fellow countryman Pierre Gasly, to complete F1’s full French driver/team line-up.

Both drivers are on long term deals and are proven talents, sharing two race victories between them alongside a host of impressive performances.

Unusually, the driver line-up is more stable than Alpine’s management: last summer saw Laurent Rossi move away from his role of CEO; Otmar Szafnauer removed as team principal and sporting director Alan Permane leaving too.

Amid the turmoil, the team failed to match the performance it found in 2022. But a standout drive from Gasly in Bahrain, a podium visit for Ocon in Monaco and another podium for Gasly at Zandvoort suggested the team has potential — although it remained overshadowed by the rise of Aston Martin and a resurgent Mercedes.

Aston Martin 2024 F1 driver line-up

Fernando Alonso	Lance Stroll

• Fernando Alonso signed on for a multi-year deal
• Lance Stroll confirmed for 2024 in comments from team boss Mike Krack

Aston Martin’s sudden ascension from the midfield to the podium last season took fans and rivals by surprise, as new signing Fernando Alonso spearheaded the initial chase of Red Bull.

The two-time world champion captured eight podium finishes, with the AMR23 in a close battle for the second quickest car on the grid alongside Mercedes — to start with. Towards the end of the year, upgardes failed to deliver the performance advantage that the team was hoping for and it slipped further back into the midfield, finishing fifth in the constructors’ standings, not helped by Lance Stroll scoring just 74 points to Alonso’s 206.

However, the team retains the same line-up in 2024; anything else would have been a surprise. With Lance Stroll‘s father Lawrence at the helm, it’s hard to imagine the Canadian’s position within the team being challenged for the foreseeable future.

Ferrari 2024 F1 driver line-up

Charles Leclerc	Carlos Sainz

• Charles Leclerc signed long-term deal beyond 2026
• Carlos Sainz enters final year with Ferrari in 2024

It worked with Michael Schumacher and now Ferrari has turned to another multiple world champion in its latest bid to return the F1 championship to Maranello.

Lewis Hamilton is set to join the team in 2025, which will bring to an end Carlos Sainz’s partnership with Charles Leclerc, which has ben marked with flashes of pace from the car and the occasional victory; but all too often a lack of race pace and strategic errors.

That said, improvements were evident in 2023 and may have been the clincher that secured Leclerc’s future with the team. His deal now runs beyond 2026.

Both he and Sainz may find that 2024 proves a crucial season. Leclerc has one more year to cement himself in the team and — dependent on a leap in car performance — challenge for the championship before the most successful driver in F1 history arrives as a formidable team-mate.

That’s not to disparage Sainz who has been the match of Leclerc on more than one occasion. He had a string of success last year, which included the only non-Red Bull grand prix win, and will need more of that form to land a big drive in 2025.

Haas 2024 F1 driver line-up

Kevin Magnussen	Nico Hülkenberg

• Kevin Magnussen enters his second year of a multi-year deal in 2023
• Nico Hülkenberg currently in final year

A change of philosophy in 2023 saw Haas move away from youth and potential to age and experience – the returning Nico Hülkenberg chosen to replace Mick Schumacher and partner Kevin Magnussen.

In 2023, the gamble on experience didn’t exactly pay off, as despite scoring points in Saudi Arabia, Australia, Miami, Austria and Singapore, Haas finished last in the constructors’ standings. That prompted the departure of talismanic team principal Guenther Steiner, but new boss Ayao Komatsu doesn’t expect any major changes, predicting a slow start to the season.

The future of the team is uncertain: Nico Hülkenberg has signed for Sauber from 2025, and Ferrari Academy driver Oliver Bearman has been linked to a seat at the team. Kevin Magnussen’s future is now up in the air as we wait to see what Haas’s future plans are.

McLaren 2024 F1 driver line-up

Lando Norris	Oscar Piastri

• Lando Norris signed new long-term contract extension to at least 2026
• Oscar Piastri agreed extension to 2026

McLaren took a break from silly season madness last year after its chaotic yet successful attempt to prise Oscar Piastri away from Alpine in 2022 — pairing the Aussie with Lando Norris on long-term deals.

It has locked its drivers in for 2026, and potentially beyond, after Piastri’s pace earned him an extension last year, while Norris committed his future for the team in January, amid continued interest from rivals.

Piastri was close to Norris’s pace for much of 2023 and crowned his debut year with a sprint race win. His success seemingly extinguishes hopes that any McLaren IndyCar driver had of making a smooth switch to F1 in the short-term.

The effects of a staff reshuffle and some key new hires — part of Andrea Stella’s plan to return the team back to the front — are already beginning to yield positive results. Continued progress will perhaps seal both drivers’ long-term F1 futures but failure to deliver a race-winning car will give each a simple excuse to move elsewhere.

Mercedes 2024 F1 driver line-up

George Russell	Lewis Hamilton

• George Russell confirmed until 2025
• Lewis Hamilton set to leave at the end of the season
• Mercedes aiming to bounce back after underwhelming title defence in 2022

Lewis Hamilton had a two year deal with Mercedes that runs to the end of 2025, but a break clause will see him leave for Ferrari at the end of this season.

It comes after two dismal seasons by Mercedes’ standards, without a single race win — on the back of a gut-wrenching title defeat in 2021.

Last year, the seven-time champion suggested he won’t stop until he extends his record-breaking winning run. “We have never been hungrier to win,” he said ahead of the 2023 Italian Grand Prix. “We have learnt from every success but also every setback. We continue to chase our dreams… We will win again. Our story isn’t finished, we are determined to achieve more together and we won’t stop until we do.”

The Mercedes story, however, will come to an end in Abu Dhabi this year.

George Russell’s performances, including a debut win in 2022, has earned him a contract extension to 2025. If the team can make it back to the front this year, we’ll have the mouthwatering prospect of both drivers fighting for victories.

Red Bull 2024 F1 driver line-up

Max Verstappen	Sergio Perez

• Max Verstappen signed a five-year extension in 2022
• Sergio Perez was given a two-year extension following the 2022 Monaco GP
• Impressive young talent could threaten Perez’ long-term position

Red Bull‘s continued dominance after a title triumph in 2022 seriously impressed in 2023. Its only weakness, perhaps coming from within.

Having signed the grid’s most lucrative contract in 2022 — keeping him with Red Bull until 2028 — Max Verstappen is set to remain at the front of the field for the foreseeable future.

Sergio Perez is contracted to Red Bull for a fourth year, despite a wobble mid-season where he struggled to keep pace with the midfield, let alone his team-mate. The tricky nature of the car may have been at fault, but that hasn’t prevented the team from unceremoniously dropping drivers in the past.

This time, an upturn in form towards the end of 2023 meant that Perez’s seat was looking more secure into the winter break, but he’ll again have his work cut out in trying to match the three-time champion in the garage next to him.

Williams 2024 F1 driver line-up

Alex Albon	Logan Sargeant

• Alex Albon retained on a multi-year deal
• Logan Sargeant signs 2024 extension

Making the small jump from the back of the grid to the back of the midfield is a rare sign of progress for Williams, who under new team principal James Vowles, will look to continue its progress further up the grid.

Alex Albon is clearly a major part of the team’s future, having committed to a multi-year deal in 2022 but Red Bull is seemingly keen to swoop in, with rumours of a contract in 2026 already circulating. Returning to the grid in 2022, after being dropped by Red Bull a year earlier, Albon quickly showed that he remained one of racing’s most promising talents and continued to impress in 2023. Despite a slow start to the season he scored points in Bahrain, Canada, Britain, Italy, Qatar, United States and Mexico.

F1 rookie Logan Sargeant showed signs of inexperience, failing to finish seven times over the course of the season. But after a debut points finish in Austin followed shortly afterwards by qualifying seventh in Las Vegas, he has earned another year at the team.