F1 stars braced for CHAOS as axe risk looms

F1's 2026 silly season could be chaotic with a majority of drivers on the grid out of contract at the end of the year.

While the futures of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen will continue to grab headlines in 2026, the two champions are in fact amongst the few drivers with their futures secured beyond 2026.

Hamilton's Ferrari contract expires at the end of 2027 while Verstappen's lengthy Red Bull deal runs through 2028. Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Pierre Gasly are the remaining three drivers on the grid whose futures are certain beyond 2026, at McLaren and Alpine respectively.

For the rest of the grid, however? Here's how the 2026 season could get interesting.

F1 driver contract lengths

A total of 11 drivers find themselves out of contract at the end of 2026, including Mercedes duo George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, Red Bull's young driver pool of Isack Hadjar, Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad and veteran F1 stars such as Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz.

While the likes of Alonso and Sainz would be expected to re-sign with their respective teams at the end of the year, Russell's future is far less clear with major movers in the driver market, such as Verstappen, potentially deciding his future next year.

Elsewhere, six drivers are believed to be in contract beyond 2026, but because no official announcement has been made on when their contract expires, their future is subject to uncertainty entering into the upcoming season.

Charles Leclerc in particular begins a pivotal year with Ferrari and could start to run out of patience with the Scuderia if they present his talents with yet another damp squib of a car.

Both Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas deem Cadillac to be a long-term project, however, should Colton Herta acquire the right amount of super licence points in F2 next year, one of these drivers could be ousted in favour of the American youngster.

Brand new regulations could see a transformed competitive order in 2026, forcing big moves and triggering a chaotic silly season.

The movements of Hamilton will also determine just how tumultuous the 2026 driver market will be, tipped to retire if he is once again uncompetitive with Ferrari next season, and could open up a space at one of the biggest teams on the grid.

*An asterisk indicates that this driver's contract is set to run until at least the year given, if not longer, but that an official end date may not have been given publicly due to the announcement simply stating a 'multi-year contract' had been awarded.

READ MORE: Max Verstappen lines up team principal move

Written by

Sheona Mountford - F1 Journalist

Sheona Mountford is a motorsport journalist specialising in F1. As a writer and contributor, she covers a wide range of motorsport series from F1 to F1 Academy, responsible for breaking news, live race coverage and in depth analysis of the sport and the culture around it.

View full biography

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