What will Formula 1 look like in 2029
F1 News
Formula 1 is quite easy to predict at the moment. Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari way ahead of the other constructors as the midfield battle it out for best of the rest. But what will the pinnacle of motorsport hold for us in 2029? Will Mercedes still be top dogs and who will be bringing up the rear?
The field
The field has undergone some serious surgery with the old guard moving on to pastures new and the likes of George Russell and Alex Albon are leading the field and are now the experienced heads. Williams are still considerably off the pace with their lineup of Dan Ticktum and Sergey Sirotkin, who was given another shot at the big time despite his F1 career appearing over at the age of 23.
McLaren are back at the top of the pack and have won the last two Constructors' Championship having stuck with the same lineup since 2019. Lando Norris immediately retired following his victory at the Qatar Grand Prix after he won the Drivers' Championship in 2028. However, the team's '28 victory was soured after their partnership of Carlos Sainz and Norris, once best friends, feuded for much of the season. They wiped each other in Spain costing the team an inevitable one-two (where have we seen that before).
Where's Max Verstappen you ask? He should be in his prime! Well after he failed to win at the first six Dutch Grands Prix, the race was scrapped as it wasn't popular enough. This caused Verstappen to immediately terminate his contract with Mercedes who he had joined in 2022 and he walked away from the sport. Utterly distraught at Max's decision Mercedes instantly withdrew from the sport to the devastation of the sporting world.
Mercedes' withdrawal opened a door for a new team in 2027, GP Blog seized the opportunity with both hands. However, things went south pretty quickly as they failed to score until the Peru Grand Prix when Kimi Raikkonen scored on his debut after Daniil Kvyat was sacked... again. Raikkonen and Mick Schumacher saw out the year but the team pulled out after one year choosing to focus on Indy Car.
Where are the old guard?
Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel are now fronting their respective nation's version of Formula 1 coverage. Lewis Hamilton eventually broke Michael Schumacher's World Championship record in 2023 after being run close by Valtteri Bottas who actually clawed back the deficit to win the 2019 season, Esteban Ocon never got an F1 seat. Vettel meanwhile continued to struggle and left Formula 1 midway through the 2021 season as the regulation changes left Ferrari bottom of the pack after nine races.
Coverage saw a return to free to air in the UK with Jake Humphreys joining Hamilton as the face of F1 on BBC whilst Sky Germany was Vettel's home.
Despite the likes of Hamilton and Vettel leaving for new ventures, one thing remains the same in Formula 1. Fernando Alonso continues to be linked and link himself with a seat despite not racing in the sport since making a one-off appearance in 2021 in Monaco. The most bizarre links was when he said he'd "love to race for Tyrrell Racing" despite not competing in F1 since 1998.
What races are on the calendar
In an attempt to make the sport more enticing Chase Carey's moustache got his way and removed all of the iconic races from the calendar in one fell swoop. Monaco? Gone. Monza? Negotiations for a new deal broke down. Silverstone? Well, that stayed but only after a proposed London street race was a disaster in its only edition in 2025.
Instead, we now have three races in America, two in China and a street race in Jamaica, who knew motorsport was so popular there?