2026 F1 Driver Contracts: Who's Locked In and Who Could Move

The 2026 grid looks almost identical to the last one, apart from a new team and two returning drivers. That calm won't last. More than half the field is due to be out of contract by the end of the year, so the silly season could start earlier than usual. Here's how each team's line-up looks on paper.

McLaren: the stable one

Lando Norris, contracted to 2030. Oscar Piastri, contracted to 2028.

McLaren's pairing is about as settled as the grid gets. Norris committed to a new deal running through 2030, with an option for longer, in late August. He arrived at that point as defending champion and having won the two most recent grands prix, which tells you the team wasn't going to let its leading driver drift into a negotiating window. Piastri extended in March 2025 with a multi-year deal that should keep him at the team until at least the end of 2028.

Mercedes and Red Bull: long-term security, with a catch

George Russell, contracted to 2027. Kimi Antonelli, contracted to 2026.

Mercedes is the team to watch here. Antonelli's deal is only confirmed for this season, and the 2026 title protagonists weren't officially confirmed for this season until October of last year. Russell's contract is understood to run into 2027, but the way it was presented could still leave both team and driver free to go in different directions. That's the sort of wording that doesn't mean much until someone tests it.

Max Verstappen, contracted to 2030. Isack Hadjar, contracted to 2027.

Red Bull's position is clearer. After years of speculation about Verstappen's future, the team surprised the paddock ahead of the 2026 Dutch Grand Prix by announcing a new deal that keeps the four-time champion there until 2030. Hadjar moved into the senior team in place of Yuki Tsunoda and had his contract renewed for 2027 in September.

Ferrari: the longest deal, and the vaguest announcement

Charles Leclerc, contracted beyond 2030. Lewis Hamilton, contracted to 2027.

Ferrari's statement on Leclerc was notably light on detail. Ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix, it said only that he would "continue to wear the team's colours for the coming seasons." His existing arrangement was also described publicly in vague terms, as being for "several more seasons," and it ran until 2029. The Race understands the new agreement extends that deal, keeping Leclerc at Ferrari beyond 2030. If that holds, it's the longest current driver contract on the grid.

Hamilton is the more interesting case. The length of his contract has never been made official, but it was widely accepted to be a two-year minimum. At the Canadian Grand Prix, the seven-time champion said he was committed at least until the end of 2027. That's a clear personal commitment, even without a published term, and it's a useful reminder that a driver's word can carry more weight than a press release.

Williams: extensions that may not be what they seem

Alex Albon, contracted to 2027. Carlos Sainz, contracted to 2028.

Williams used the week before the Dutch Grand Prix to confirm that both drivers would stay beyond 2026. Albon's deal was presented as an extension for 2027, although his existing contract was thought to cover next year already. The Race understands no new racing contract was agreed. Instead, the 2027 confirmation appears to relate to exit clauses already in the contract. Read that way, the announcement is more about flexibility than fresh commitment.

Sainz signed a multi-year extension that doesn't specify the length of the contract but includes options over the coming years. Options like that give the team leverage, and they can give the driver a way out too, depending on how they're triggered.

Racing Bulls and Haas: one-year horizons

Liam Lawson, contracted to 2026. Arvid Lindblad, contracted to 2026.

Lawson recovered well from his demotion to Racing Bulls just two rounds into the 2025 season, and that form earned him a place for 2026. He has performed strongly alongside rookie Arvid Lindblad. Neither driver has yet confirmed plans for 2027, so the team has a real decision to make.

Ollie Bearman, contracted to 2026. Esteban Ocon, contracted to 2026.

Both Haas drivers are under contract only until the end of this season. Ocon is set to depart, while Bearman is expected to stay. That leaves one seat effectively settled and one needing to be filled, which makes Haas one of the more straightforward stories on the grid.

Aston Martin, Audi and Alpine: mostly settled, with some wording to watch

Fernando Alonso, contracted to 2027. Lance Stroll, contracted to 2027.

Aston Martin announced in late September that its two drivers would remain with the team until the end of next year. Both are contracted through 2027, which gives the team stability for the next two seasons.

Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto, both on "multi-year" deals.

Audi's first season has been mixed. The car has shown decent pace but has suffered more reliability problems than the team would like, and the points haven't fully reflected that speed. Bortoleto, 21, is racing alongside Hulkenberg for a second season as the team moves from Sauber into the works operation. Audi's team principal, Mattia Binotto, said in September that both drivers were under contract for the following year and that the team saw no need to say more. The term "multi-year" is doing a lot of work there, because nobody outside the team knows how many years it covers.

Pierre Gasly, contracted to 2028. Franco Colapinto, contracted to 2027.

Gasly's Alpine deal was extended further into the future during the second half of the 2025 season. Colapinto was retained for 2027 in August, which will be his second full season in F1. That gives Alpine a settled pairing for the next two years.

Cadillac: early security, with a possible exit

Sergio Perez, contracted to 2029. Valtteri Bottas, contracted to 2027.

Cadillac's strong start has earned Sergio Perez an extension to his original deal, which now runs through 2029. Valtteri Bottas is contracted through 2027, but there has been talk of the deal being broken a year early. That's the one arrangement on the list where an early split is openly in the conversation.

What this means for the rest of the season

The pattern across the grid is clear. Teams with strong results are locking drivers in early, and the ones still waiting tend to be tied to one-year deals or vague option clauses. My read is that the next few months will be quieter in terms of race results and busier in terms of paddock rumours, particularly around Mercedes, Haas and Racing Bulls. Watch the wording of any new announcement closely. A "multi-year" label or an exit clause can change the story quickly, and the real commitments often sit in the details that teams don't publish.