Save for the significant arrival of a new Formula 1 team and two returning drivers, there were scarcely any changes to the grid for 2026.
But that could all change over the remainder of the season, as more than 50% of the field are due to be out of contract come the end of the year.
Here’s what you need to know about when each driver’s contract ends.
McLaren
Lando Norris – 2027
Oscar Piastri – 2028
Norris’s current deal – announced in January 2024 – confirmed he would be with the team until the end of 2026 along with Piastri, although the “long-term” wording used by McLaren means Norris is likely tied up for the 2027 season, too.
Piastri extended his contract in March 2025 with a “multi-year” deal that you’d suspect will keep him at McLaren until the end of 2028 at least.
Mercedes
George Russell – 2027
Kimi Antonelli – 2026
F1 2026’s two title protagonists were only officially confirmed for this season in October last year.
Max Verstappen’s potential availability earlier in the season contributed to that hold-up and that could be a factor again this year. Russell’s contract is understood to run into 2027, though the way it was presented could still leave both team and driver free to do something different next year.
Red Bull
Max Verstappen – 2028
Isack Hadjar – 2026
Verstappen signed a new deal with Red Bull in 2022 that in theory keeps him at the team until 2028.
But there are also performance-related clauses in that contract on Verstappen’s side, and the four-time champion said explicitly recently that he will quit F1 for 2027 if planned changes to the new rules (of which he has been the most vocal critic) are blocked.
Hadjar was brought into the Red Bull line-up at the expense of Yuki Tsunoda – that announcement stated only that he would be part of the 2026 line-up – and has compared reasonably well to Verstappen in his first season in the senior team, even if the car’s overall competitiveness has been a limiting factor.
Ferrari
Charles Leclerc – 2030+
Lewis Hamilton – 2027
In announcing Charles Leclerc’s deal had been renewed, Ferrari released an ambiguous statement ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix that was light on details and stated merely that he would “continue to wear the team’s colours for the coming seasons”.
As Leclerc’s existing arrangement (also publicly announced at the time only as being for “several more seasons”) was in place until 2029, The Race understands that the new deal is an extension to that and as such will keep him at Ferrari until beyond 2030 – the current longest F1 driver contract.
While the length of Lewis Hamilton’s contract has never been made official, it was widely accepted to be a two-year-minimum affair and the seven-time champion said at the recent Canadian GP that he was committed at least until the end of 2027.
Williams
Alex Albon – 2026+
Carlos Sainz – 2026
Albon was signed through to at least the end of the 2026 campaign with a new “multi-year” deal in 2024.
Sainz joined Williams from 2025 on what was described as a “two-year agreement with options to extend”.
Racing Bulls
Liam Lawson – 2026
Arvid Lindblad – 2026
Lawson regrouped well following his demotion to Racing Bulls just two rounds into the 2025 season, sufficiently so that he was retained for 2026.
Lindblad, the only rookie in this year’s field, scored points on an eye-catching debut at the Australian GP and added to his tally in the Canadian GP sprint race.
They have been presented as Racing Bulls’s drivers for 2026 only.
Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso – 2026
Lance Stroll – 2026
Two-time champion Alonso and Stroll are currently contracted only until the end of what is proving to be a gruelling first year of Aston Martin‘s works partnership with Honda.
Haas
Ollie Bearman – 2026
Esteban Ocon – 2026
Though both Bearman and Ocon are contracted until the end of the current season, Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu recently had to shut down “bulls***” speculation of a rift between Ocon and himself, and the possibility of a mid-season split.
Audi
Nico Hulkenberg – “multi-year”
Gabriel Bortoleto – “multi-year”
Audi’s having a mixed first season in F1 – with a decent turn of speed being paired with more reliability issues than it would like – and should really have more points on the board than the two Bortoleto scored at the season opener.
The 21-year-old is racing alongside Hulkenberg for a second season, following the team’s transition from Sauber into the works team.
Hulkenberg’s deal includes 2025 and 2026, though reports have suggested 2027 is in the mix as well.
Alpine
Pierre Gasly – 2028
Franco Colapinto – 2026
Gasly’s Alpine deal was extended further into the future midway through the 2025 campaign.
Colapinto’s form in the early part of 2026 – featuring a seventh in Miami and then a career-best sixth in Canada – has put him on the right trajectory to stay with the team for 2027, according to Flavio Briatore – though the Alpine executive advisor also said he wants to keep his options open in case Verstappen does move to Mercedes and one of Russell or Antonelli becomes available.
Cadillac
Sergio Perez – 2027
Valtteri Bottas – 2027
Grand prix veterans Perez and Bottas were both signed on “multi-year” deals that brought them back to the grid with the new Cadillac team.
Perez has generally been the more impressive of the two so far in 2026, though speculation that Bottas’s place could be at risk – for now or for 2027 – appears to be wide of the mark.
