The 2024 Formula 1 driver transfer season kicked into gear with an astonishing decision. Lewis Hamilton announced that he will leave Mercedes in 2025 and drive towards Ferrari.
Over the next few weeks, the plot continued into the sport as the driver's stupid season began to move. Eventually, some drivers found new teams, others noticed they were looking outside, and in 2025 a handful of rookies joined the grid.
Well, thanks to another decision, the driver transfer market is about to be launched for the 2026 campaign.
That decision? News that Formula 1 has officially approved the 11th team, the partnership between TWG Motorsports and General Motors will compete as Cadillac teams in 2026. This means filling in two more seats, and also means months of breathtaking speculation.
Let's explain what the 2026 driver lineup will look like before the 2025 season.
Which F1 team has the two drivers signed in 2026?
As things stand, the six teams that will appear on the grid in 2026 have a complete driver lineup.
Includes champions for defending constructors.
McLaren
Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have been signed by McLaren for the 2026 season. Norris signed a new “multi-year” contract with the team ahead of the 2024 season. This will allow you to continue walking until 2027. As for Piastri, he signed a “multiple-year” extension with McLaren during his 2023 rookie season.
Ferrari
Ferrari driver pairing is set for the 2026 campaign. Charles Leclerc put his pen on paper in January 2024 with his new contract. As for Lewis Hamilton, the deal he signed with Ferrari reportedly has a third choice for two years. This means he will be placed over at least 2025 and 2026.
Aston Martin
Both Fernando Alonso and Reims walks have been signed throughout the 2026 season. Alonso signed an extension in April 2024 and stayed with the team at least in 2026, but Stroll announced a new contract with the team last summer.
Haas
Haas is one of the Formula 1 teams with an all-new driver lineup for the 2025 season. Esteban Ocon has joined the team after driving towards the Alpine over the past few seasons, while Oliver Baerman is one of the rookies to join the grid for the 2025 campaign.
Both drivers have signed contracts with HAAS, which will run the 2026 Formula One season.
Williams
When Hamilton decided to leave for Ferrari from 2025, and Leclerc had already redo his deal with Scuderia. This made Carlos Signs Jr. the biggest free agent in the driver transfer market.
Speculation followed track-to-track Sainz, but eventually Sainz cast many of him alongside James Bowles and Williams, signing a multi-year deal with “option to expand” beyond the 2026 season.
It is also the last year of a deal his new teammate, Alexander Albon, signed in the spring of 2024.
Audi
The loss in news over Cadillac joining the grid for the 2026 season is the fact that the American team is not the only “new” team on the grid. The 2025 season marks Sauber's final campaign before Audi takes over its business as a working team in 2026.
But ahead of the 2025 season, Audi lined up driver pairings in a long-term deal. Nico Hulkenberg was confirmed as Audi's first Formula 1 driver ahead of the 2024 Miami Grand Prix and will sign with the team until 2026.
What F1 team has one open seat in 2026?
In 2026 there will be two teams with one open seat, each representing a fascinating story.
Takayama
Let's start with Alpine.
Esteban Ocon's move to Haas opened his seat with Pierre Guthrie, signing a two-year contract with the team last summer, keeping him at Alpine until 2026.
Alpine was one of the teams pursuing Carlos Sainz Jr., but in the end the team promoted spare driver Jack Doohan to a full-time spot on the grid for the 2025 season.
However, there is speculation around paddock that Dohan is on the shortest lease, with Alpine's move to add Franco Colapinto as Williams “Super Sub” last year, with Williams “Super Sub” as reserve driver. Speculation only increased with the release of Season 7 of Netflix Docusary Drive to surviveAlpine Senior Executive Flavio Bryator told the young Doohan, “I'm in control of you, millimeter by millimeter.”
From Doohan's perspective, if he played on the track, that seat might be his in 2026. F1 is, after all, a result-based business. It has been named Drive to survive For reasons. But if Doohan doesn't provide the results Alpine wants, he could see Colapinto or someone else in that seat in 2026.
Unless it's early.
Red Bull
Let's go now.
Max Verstappen will return to the 2022 season and sign a long-term contract with Red Bull, and will be able to keep it with the team until 2028.
However, as we learned earlier last season, there are clauses in the contract that allows Verstappen to leave the team. These provisions were tested during an early controversy surrounding the team's principal, Christian Horner, with allegations of misconduct being imposed on the Red Bull boss.
Totowolf, the principal of the Mercedes team, found Lewis Hamilton in a vacant location thanks to his decision to leave the team for Ferrari, confirmed he met Verstappen's management during the 2024 campaign. Verstappen is also linked to Aston Martin as Adrian Newey has moved to the team this year.
That being said, Verstappen continues to bruise rumors of a move from Red Bull, and there is all the hopes he will be with them in the near future.
As for who his teammate would become, Red Bull believed he would take that issue a break last summer with Sergio Perez's new deal, but moved in a different direction in 2025 as the results continued.
If Lawson performs, that spot could remain him in 2026. But if not, and as Red Bull has shown in the past, they want to give another driver a shot.
Which F1 team has two open seats in 2026?
This leaves three teams with no drivers lined up next year.
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari opened his Mercedes seat in the 2025 season and was eventually filled with Young Phenom Andrea Chimian Tonelli, one of the rookies who have been on the grid for the 2025 season.
However, Antoneri has a one-year contract.
His teammate George Russell is also not confirmed in 2026 as he is in the final year of his contract signed with Mercedes in 2023.
According to Wolff, Mercedes could have the same pairing in 2026 as this season, as the team has the option to expand both drivers. Russell celebrated his 27th birthday in February, and Antonelli turned 18 last August, giving Mercedes a pairing of young, talented drivers.
However, if Wolff's performance is not up to standard, your team will have a window to look for one or both seats elsewhere.
Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team
Now we look to the Red Bull sister team.
VCarb began this year with a combination of Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar, with Hadjar leaping off F2 and Tsunoda, passing to Red Bull spots along with Max Verstappen.
Both drivers are taking part in a one-year transaction.
If Liam Lawson gets upset with Verstappen, promotion to Red Bull could be at the table of one of these drivers. But what will VCARB do with this lineup for 2026 if Lawson is enough to keep his spot? Hadger will likely win a second season given his lack of experience, but he's already rummaging about the long-term future of Zonodas in the Red Bull family. I'll talk in December Following the announcement of Hadjar's move to VCarb, Horner questioned Tsunoda's future. “We are keenly aware if we can't provide Yuki with opportunities. [at Red Bull] I'll be honest this year and do it [keeping him on] Does it make sense? ” asked Horner. “You can't have a driver in your support team for five years. You can't always be a bridesmaid. You have to let them go at that point or see something different.”
Cadillac
It takes us to Cadillac.
With news that they've been officially approved for spots on the grid, speculation is kicking high gear about the drivers they'll sign in in 2026.
The team can then start talking to the driver.
“There's still a very talented driver there,” said team principal Graeme Loudon on Friday. “We weren't able to join the driver market until we confirmed our entries. Now we can move forward with that.”
Who do they try to move forward with?
When the proposed Cadillac-andretti team first announced their intention to join the Formula One Grid, Michael Andretti stressed that it would become a national business.
And he had a driver in mind: Colton Herta, the current IndyCar driver.
Herta has been linked to the transition to F1 in the past. In 2021 he drove alongside Valtteri Bottas by linking with the move to Sauber, but discussion broke and the team signed Zhou Guanyu for the 2022 season. Herta was signed as the development driver for McLaren for the 2022 campaign and was subsequently linked to a move to Alphatauri. Due to the lack of required points for the F1 Super License, Red Bull sought a Hertha exemption, but the Governing Body of Sports denied the request.
However, Hertha is away from his best IndyCar season, and he finished second in the driver's championship to Alex Pau. He first won in Toronto last year, then recorded a victory in the season finale in Nashville.
He finished 16th in the season-opening Grand Prix in St. Petersburg last weekend.
Herta spoke with the media SB Nation Ahead of the 2025 IndyCar campaign, we look at potential moves towards Formula 1. However, the driver put the rumor aside, but he didn't even know what was needed to ultimately secure the F1 Super License.
“The answer to that is, I didn't even know what math was about to get a super license, so if that happened, great, and I can decide,” Hertha told the media. SB Nationin January. “If I still want it.
“It's fine either way.”
Hertha may be heavily considered by Cadillac, but there were other names linked to the team in 2026. Finding yourself without a seat for the 2025 season and spending this year as a Mercedes reserve, Valtteri Bottas is an option. So did his former teammate Zhou Guanyu. He may have an internal track given the fact that Lowdon is part of his management team. If you're actually watching Yuki Tsunoda run out of time with the Red Bull family of VCarb, he could be an option too.
Then there are some current rivals for Herta in IndyCar. Both Patooward and three-time IndyCar champion Alex Pallow are linked to future moves towards Formula 1.
Wildcard?
How about Sergio Perez?
Regardless of who Cadillac finally signed, it's incredible speculation that there will be two more spots on the grid to fill in 2026.
If there's no more.
