Hulkenberg anticipating ‘musical chairs’ in driver market

Nico Hulkenberg believes there will be a series of movements in the driver market for the 2025 Formula 1 campaign.

Over half of the grid is not signed up beyond the end of next year, creating the potential for mass movement around the grid.

There is also a lot of attention being directed towards the 2026 campaign, when a new set of regulations threaten to shake up the pecking order.

These regulations include major changes to the Power Unit, the biggest since the turbo-hybrid engines were introduced in 2014.

Only two drivers are signed up beyond the end of 2025 - Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

'Musical chairs'

Although the 2026 season is some time away, Hulkenberg is expecting driver moves as they settle into their teams ahead of the new regulations.

"I think there's still so much gap between now and then," Hulkenberg told media including RacingNews365.

"I mean, it sounds like quite a big change, and for sure, I think at the beginning of next year, you start to wonder about that.

"The musical chairs I think will move in and work quite a bit next year and I think naturally things will fall in place for people.

"It depends on what happens, how you perform and how strong your value is."