The F1 drivers out of contract at the end of 2025 season

The young Italian isn’t tipped to make sparks immediately though, with 2025 already earmarked as a “transitional year” for him.

“Kimi won’t be on pole and winning in Melbourne straight away,” said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. “He will develop over the year and make mistakes, that’s just part of it. But he will also deliver very good performances.”

While Antonelli’s current F1 contract is due to expire at the end of 2025, it’s likely that he will be offered an extension at some point in the season — possibly after meeting certain performance metrics. He’ll also be expected to learn from experienced team-mate George Russell.

“We see 2025 as a transitional year and want to prepare him for 2026 when everything will start from scratch for everyone,” added Wolff.

“There are some good indications that he has a lot of talent and a lot of potential, and now it needs to be conditioned.”

Jack Doohan 

After years on the sideline at Alpine, Jack Doohan finally got his big F1 break in 2024, as he was announced as Esteban Ocon‘s full-time replacement at the Enstone outfit for 2025.

But after a mediocre debut at the 2024 Abu Dhabi GP — in which he started last and finished 15th — Doohan’s F1 future may already be under threat.

Should the Aussie fail impress through the first half of 2025 campaign, Alpine could waste little time in cutting the Aussie’s rookie season short and giving his seat to Franco Colapinto — who after impressing for Williams as a stand-in reserve in 2024, was curiously signed as Alpine’s reserve driver in January.

“We’ll start the year with [Pierre Gasly] and Jack, I can guarantee that,” Renault executive Flavio Briatore told Le Parisien. “After that, we’ll see as the season progresses.

“I have to get the team in the right condition to get results and the driver is the one who has to conclude the work of nearly 1,000 people behind him. Everyone works for just two people.”

Isack Hadjar 

Isack Hadjar is the latest Red Bull junior to receive an F1 promotion, as he steps in to fill the void left by Liam Lawson at RB.

The Frenchman impressed in F2 last season — winning four feature races, securing three further podiums and finishing second in the drivers’ standings — and also showed strong pace during a post-season F1 test in Abu Dhabi.

Hadjar has been signed to a one-year deal with RB, and could be expected to gradually meet the standard set by team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, who has previously beaten the likes of Daniel Ricciardo, Nyck de Vries and Liam Lawson in season-long head-to-head battles.

Should Hadjar even run close to the Japanese driver through the first half of the season, Red Bull could quickly sign the Frenchman to an extension — strengthening its junior squad line-up ahead of 2026. But should Hadjar struggle, the Milton Keynes could look to replace him with former F2 star and current Super Formula driver Ayumu Iwasa or look further afield to the likes of Felipe Drugovich.

Liam Lawson

Liam Lawson’s impressive performances as a stand-in reserve in 2023 and 2024 have earned him a spot next to Max Verstappen at Red Bull for 2025.

But, under the pressure of a one year contract, could the Kiwi’s rapid rise soon be slowed?

It’s a story we’ve seen play out before with Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon. Both drivers were promoted into front-running Red Bull seats after relatively short stints at Toro Rosso (now known as RB), but struggled to match the standard set by Verstappen and were soon replaced.

If Lawson can instead follow in the initial wheel tracks of Sergio Perez — who was a consistent number two to Verstappen, at times, through 2021, 2022 and 2023 — Red Bull could lock the Kiwi down to a longer contract ahead of the major regulation changes in 2026.

But, should he struggle, Red Bull could quickly go looking for a replacement or even initiate a mid-season swap for Yuki Tsunoda.

George Russell

George Russell is likely to be one of the first drivers to receive a new contract in 2025, as the Briton plays a major role in Mercedes’ future.

Following the departure of Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari, Russell is now the Brackley outfit’s on-track leader and proved a consistent source of points throughout 2024. He secured brilliant wins in Austria and Las Vegas and finished sixth in the drivers’ standings, prompting rival team bosses to turn their heads.

Red Bull’s Christian Horner stated that it would be “foolish” not to consider Russell as an option for 2026, which, in turn, led to a clarifying statement made by Toto Wolff.

“These two are the future,” said the Mercedes team boss when asked about the contracts of Russell and Antonelli. “They have been and will be Mercedes drivers, and therefore, we have contracts with George and Kimi that go much longer that are very complicated in terms of options, etc.

“And this is a pressure cooker. Mercedes always has been a pressure cooker, but this is where we stand as a team today, we want to go with these two.”

Yuki Tsunoda 

Yuki Tsunoda signed a one-year extension with RB mid-way through 2024, which will keep him with the Red Bull junior squad until the end of 2025.

The Japanese driver has shown gradual improvement since his rookie season in 2021, and has become one of the grid’s premier talents having previously defeated the majority of his team-mates over the course of whole seasons. In 2024, Tsunoda also scored 65% of RB’s total points and finished 12th in the drivers’ standings — a performance that many believed should have been rewarded with a seat at Red Bull for 2025.

But after Lawson was selected ahead of him, Tsunoda could be looking elsewhere for 2026.

“We’re acutely aware that if we’re not able to provide an opportunity for Yuki – being, in all honesty, this year [2025] – does it make sense [to keep him]?” said Red Bull team boss Christian Horner.

“You can’t have a driver in the support team for five years. You can’t always be the bridesmaid. You’ve either got to let them go at that point or look at something different.”

There could still be opportunities for Tsunoda to progress up through the Red Bull ranks in 2025. Should Lawson struggle against Verstappen, Tsunoda could be swapped in for the Kiwi — given that he’s now Red Bull’s second-most seasoned driver.

“I think he’s very determined,” added Horner. “He knows that things change very quickly. Who would’ve thought nine months ago we’d be sitting here talking about Liam Lawson being our driver for 2025?

“Things change quickly in this industry and he’s aware of that and knows that he needs to be the one demonstrating that he’s the one knocking on the door.”