JAKE BOXALL-LEGGE
Cards on the table: this is purely what we’d like to see from the remainder of the 2025 driver market. Since Lewis Hamilton has already spiced up proceedings with his Ferrari move, we’ve decided to amp it up even further. Come with us, and gaze upon our crystal ball…
Ferrari and McLaren are already locked in, so their respective Hamilton/Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris/Oscar Piastri line-ups will remain. The biggest piece on the chess board is naturally Max Verstappen, so let’s say that the Red Bull wrangling behind closed doors has pushed him towards the exit for a move to Mercedes. He’ll partner George Russell there, and take the hit for 2025 before hoping that the new power unit regs in 2026 trigger a Silver Arrows fightback.
This leaves Red Bull with two unsigned seats. The team keeps Sergio Perez for continuity and, with Carlos Sainz a free agent, Red Bull opts to bring the Melbourne race winner into the fold for 2025 on a long-term deal. Fernando Alonso has extended his Aston Martin deal and, supposing Lance Stroll’s lack of consistency wears out its welcome (and his father Lawrence realises his son might not be the answer to the team’s future), the team casts its net out for a replacement. So it liberates Pierre Gasly from Alpine for a revised line-up as it pins its long-term future on the Frenchman.
Passed up for a Red Bull promotion, Yuki Tsunoda stays with RB for a fifth season and is partnered with Liam Lawson as Helmut Marko’s promise of a race seat comes good. This leaves Daniel Ricciardo out of a drive. Nico Hulkenberg is picked up by Sauber, 12 years on from his first spell at the Swiss team, since Audi
