All Of The Changes Coming To The 2025 Formula 1 Driver Lineup

Formula 1 racing has gone through many changes since the first race was held in 1950, and the 20 seats on the grid are coveted by drivers around the world. In every year of competition through the current season, there have been at least two changes to the F1 driver's lineup. Most years saw much more turnover than that, but the grid for the first race of 2024 was identical to that from the year before for the first time in history. Some of that previous driver shuffle was a result of teams entering and leaving the sport, and team turnover has slowed dramatically in recent years. Since 1994, only ten new teams have joined Formula 1, with the last being Haas in 2016.

There will be some consistency going into next year for F1's top teams, but there have already been some notable changes announced. The big news in that regard came earlier this year, when seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton announced he would be leaving Mercedes for Ferrari. Hamilton topped our list of the best F1 drivers of all time, and he currently holds or shares all of F1's most important records. Hamilton's move bumped Carlos Sainz from his Ferrari seat, and only three teams will keep their 2024 driver pairing intact for 2025.

The six drivers from those three teams are currently in the top half of the driver's standings. Series leader and three-time defending champion Max Verstappen will return with Red Bull, and his teammate Sergio Perez just signed a two-year extension through 2026. McLaren's young paring of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will also return intact in 2025; both drivers recently signed long-term contracts that will keep them in papaya orange and black at least through 2026. Aston Martin will bring back two-time driver's champion Fernando Alonso, who is also signed through the next two seasons. He'll team up with Canadian Lance Stroll for the third straight year.

Hamilton will join Charles Leclerc at Ferrari. Leclerc has been with the Scuderia since 2019, and finished second to Verstappen in 2022. The displaced Sainz inked a multi-year deal to join Alex Albon at Williams, and both of those drivers are signed through 2026. 

Sainz is bumping Logan Sargeant from the Williams garage. Sargeant was the first American driver in F1 since Alexander Rossi in 2015, but his disappointing performance this season almost led to a mid-season firing. Pierre Gasly will return for Alpine next year, but Esteban Ocon's move to Haas leaves the other Alpine seat vacant. Ocon will team with Oliver Bearman, giving Haas an all-new pairing next year. Nico Hulkenberg is shuffling over to Kick Sauber as that team prepares to become an Audi works squad in 2026, and Kevin Magnussen's contract will not be renewed when it expires this winter. The other Kick Sauber seat is vacant as of this writing, with current Sauber drivers Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas still unsigned past this season. 

Yuki Tsunoda will be back for his fifth season at Red Bull's companion squad VCARB, but Daniel Ricciardo's fate as his teammate is unclear. If the colorful Aussie can't find a ride for next year, he could be headed to the broadcast booth. Bottas, Ricciardo, or Magnussen could slot into one of the empty seats at Kick Sauber, Alpine, or VCARB, but those teams might be more interested in signing a young driver like Liam Lawson or Kimi Antonelli. Any of those drivers could also join George Russell at Mercedes, although Antonelli may have the inside track for that seat as Mercedes' junior driver.