Formula 1 drivers without a contract for 2025

There is a group of Formula 1 drivers without a contract for 2025, with interesting names, and others who, unfortunately, are already on their way out.

The F1 driver market in 2024 has been wild, and right now there are three seats in the category that have no owner.

Rookie driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli will replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, the team announced today.

So Andrea Kimi will be George Russell’s teammate.

Other Formula 1 drivers without a contract for 2025 stand out despite their talent and great value in this category.

Sauber and Racing Bulls are the only teams with a quota available and there are at least eight drivers with hopes of continuing or debuting in Formula 1 in 2025.

Andreas Seidl and Oliver Hoffman’s job was to get the best possible talent for 2026 that Sauber will officially become Audi, but they could only secure Nico Hulkenberg, a German and highly respected driver.

That ushered in Mattia Binotto as CEO, plus the recent announcement of the addition of Jonathan Wheatley, still Red Bull’s sporting director, as the new Team Principal.

Among the candidates is Valtteri Bottas, but the Finn said in Monza that he knows that Sauber is his only chance to stay in F1, but he is not interested in signing for a single year and has already made this known to Binotto.

As for Guanyu Zhou, the Chinese would take anything, he also assured in Italy, “happy” he would sign for one year. It is also known that the sponsorship package he carries under his arm will follow him wherever he goes.

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Other Formula 1 drivers without a contract for 2025

Meanwhile at Racing Bulls the driver fight for 2025 is between Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson.

Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s special advisor, declared last week that New Zealand driver Liam Lawson will race, yes or yes, in a car of the group in 2025 and today there is only one seat available, the one warmed by another Oceania driver, Daniel Ricciardo.

Those who do not want Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez believe that his seat is still in the pipeline and that both Ricciardo and Lawson could be starters in 2025.

But the Mexican has a signed contract (obviously, contracts can be broken) and the team has not said that it is considering lowering it, those who do not get tired of saying it are some media and analysts.

Here’s what the grid looks like for 2025, the drivers on standby and those who will go on unemployment:

Red Bull

• Max Verstappen, under contract until 2028
• Sergio Pérez, under contract until 2026

Mercedes

• George Russell, under contract until 2026
• Andrea Kimi Antonelli until 2025.

Ferrari

• Charles Leclerc, with multi-year contract beyond 2026.
• Lewis Hamilton, under contract until at least 2026.

McLaren

• Lando Norris, multi-year contract
• Oscar Piastri, contract until 2026

Aston Martin

• Fernando Alonso, under contract until 2026
• Lance Stroll, under contract until 2026

Alpine

• Pierre Gasly, under contract until at least 2026
• Jack Doohan, under contract until 2025

Haas

• Esteban Ocon, under multi-year contract
• Oliver Bearman, under multi-year contract

RB

• Yuki Tsunoda, until 2025
• Open seat, candidates Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson

Sauber

• Nico Hulkenberg, multi-year contract
• Open seat, candidates Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou

Williams

• Alex Albon, until 2026
• Carlos Sainz, multi-year contract

Drivers on standby…

• Valtteri Bottas
• Guanyu Zhou
• Daniel Ricciardo
• Liam Lawson
• Those aiming for unemployment
• Logan Sargeant
• Kevin Magnussen

Those hoping for a chance:

• Mick Schumacher
• Franco Colapinto
• Felipe Drugovich
• Theo Pourcharire

ESPN