The end of the 2025 F1 season saw very little in the way of driver changes.
With the new, wide-sweeping regulations for this year, the majority of the teams opted for continuity in their driver line-ups rather than making alterations.
It means that for this season, there will only be one rookie on the grid - Arvid Lindblad at Racing Bulls - rather than the five who embarked on their maiden F1 campaigns at the start of 2025.
The only swap of any note at the end of the year saw Isack Hadjar promoted from Racing Bulls to Red Bull, where he will become Max Verstappen's latest team-mate.
For this year, however, with the new rules and with them a variety of unknowns, there are also numerous drivers out of contract at the end of the season.
The potential for multiple moves and departures is considerable, and across all teams, regardless of some of the deals the leading players have in their pockets.
McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, for example, are understood to be contracted through to the end of 2027, but escape clauses could permit either the opportunity to leave earlier than scheduled.
It is the same for Verstappen. It is known that he has various clauses in his contract. The four-time F1 champion was heavily linked with Mercedes up until the summer last year, but a potential move was blocked by the fact he was in the top three in the drivers' standings going into the August break.
Although the Dutchman is contracted with Red Bull through to the end of 2028, will another clause allow him to look for a move elsewhere if the team is not competitive this season as it embarks on a new venture with its own power unit?
Beyond that, there are multiple drivers who, it is understood, either do not have a deal with the current team beyond the end of this season, or have multi-year contracts with option clauses that kick in at the end of the year, allowing the teams to either extend for 2027 or sever ties.
Check out the list of drivers below who face uncertainty for 2027 going into this year.
F1 drivers with expiring contracts in 2026
| Driver | Current team |
|---|---|
| George Russell | Mercedes |
| Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes |
| Isack Hadjar | Red Bull |
| Alex Albon | Williams |
| Carlos Sainz | Williams |
| Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls |
| Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls |
| Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin |
| Lance Stroll | Aston Martin |
| Oliver Bearman | Haas |
| Esteban Ocon | Haas |
| Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Audi |
| Franco Colapinto | Alpine |
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