These drivers and teams hold the keys to the driver market

Red Bull Racing, Ferrari and McLaren are the three teams that have announced a full line-up for the 2025 Formula 1 season. Mercedes, Stake, Williams and Aston Martin have each confirmed one driver for 2025. Still, Aston Martin's second driver seems like a fill-in, with Lance Stroll there as the owner's son. However, official confirmation is still yet to be announced.

Mercedes' search

That leaves nine seats. The most coveted seat is the one at Mercedes. Toto Wolff had hopes of Max Verstappen, but now switches gears. Andrea Kimi Antonelli will be given time to prove himself in F1. As Antonelli does not seem to be able to count on a seat at any other F1 team either, the hope at Mercedes will be that Antonelli grows strongly and can debut with the main team as early as 2025.

Mercedes do keep their options open should Antonelli not yet be ready for an F1 debut. Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon would like to go to Mercedes, but want clarity before Mercedes do. So it is likely that those two drivers will put their money on different a horse. With Mick Schumacher, the team has a reserve driver who could potentially be brought in for one season.

Stake are another major player in the market. The team is currently last in the constructors' standings, but with Audi as future owner, they have an interesting prospect for drivers. Still, not every driver is eager to choose Audi. Sainz and Ocon were already in talks with the now Swiss team, but both do not seem to want to strike immediately. Audi are keen to quickly announce the driver next to Nico Hulkenberg and now also have their eyes on Yuki Tsunoda.

Sainz, Bottas and Ocon are key names in the driver market

More teams are fishing in that pond of drivers. Indeed, Tsunoda and Ocon are also on the radar of Haas, which is looking for an experienced driver. Kevin Magnussen looks set to retire from F1 for the second time due to his performance, after which Haas will enter 2025 and 2026 with an experienced driver and Oliver Bearman. Bearman's current F2 season is not the most outstanding for a chance in F1, yet no one doubts that Bearman will be seen in F1 in 2025.

There is also busy talk at Williams about the second driver alongside Alexander Albon. Logan Sargeant certainly won't be. In fact, the American has to fear for his seat in 2024. Williams previously looked at Antonelli, but now seems to want to opt for more experience. There have already been serious talks with Carlos Sainz, Valtteri Bottas and Yuki Tsunoda is also on the radar of the Grove-based team.

At Alpine, it has become clear that Esteban Ocon will leave, while there are also doubts about Pierre Gasly's future. Guanyu Zhou is in Alpine's sights with the main plus being that Zhou has a large fan base in Asia where Alpine/Renault want to sell more cars. Sainz, Bottas, Tsunoda and Mick Schumacher are also mentioned at Alpine, as logically Alpine juniors Jack Doohan and Victor Martins are also mentioned here and there.

What about Visa Cash App RB? There, Tsunoda seems to want to leave, leaving room for Daniel Ricciardo as a benchmark for a new talent. Remarkable though, as Ricciardo is 34 and currently losing the duel to Tsunoda. Not exactly the ideal benchmark for young new talent. Liam Lawson seems the obvious replacement for Tsunoda, although Isack Hadjar is also making a good impression in Formula 2.

Who will be the victims?

In the whole carousel, especially Pierre Gasly and Kevin Magnussen seem to be the big victims. In Magnussen's case, this is justified given his performance, but for Gasly it feels a bit wry. In 2023, he was still the better of the two drivers in year one at Alpine, but in the first eight Grands Prix of 2024, Ocon was the best. This ensures that Ocon is now named among all those teams and not Gasly.

Gasly still has a chance of an F1 seat, but will clearly have to perform better. A contract with France's Alpine will then still be within reach, while good performances could possibly also put him more in the picture with Haas, Williams and Audi.