The 2026 Formula 1 grid is nearly complete.
On Friday ahead of the São Paulo Grand Prix, Alpine confirmed that Franco Colapinto will be back with the team for next season.
So let’s take stock of how the 2026 driver lineup looks ahead of the 2025 season.
McLaren
Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are signed for McLaren for the 2026 season. Norris signed a new “multi-year” deal with the team ahead of the 2024 season, which will keep him in Woking through 2027. As for Piastri, he signed a “multi-year” extension with McLaren during his 2023 rookie season, which will see 2026 as the final year of his deal.
Ahead of the Australian Grand Prix McLaren announced a “multi-year” extension for Piastri, that will keep him in Woking beyond the 2026 season.
Ferrari
Ferrari’s driver pairing is set for the 2026 campaign. Charles Leclerc put pen to paper on a new contract in January of 2024 that will keep him with Ferrari for “several” seasons. As for Lewis Hamilton, the contract he signed with Ferrari is reportedly for two years, with an option for a third. That means he will be in place for at least 2025 and 2026.
Aston Martin
Both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll are signed through the 2026 season. Alonso signed a contract extension in April of 2024 to remain with the team through at least 2026, while Stroll announced a new deal with the team last summer that will keep him with the team for “2025 and beyond.”
Haas
Haas is one of the F1 teams with a completely new driver lineup for the 2025 season. Esteban Ocon joins the team after driving for Alpine the past few seasons, while Oliver Bearman is one of the rookies joining the grid for the 2025 campaign.
Both drivers are on a deal with Haas that runs through the 2026 F1 season.
Williams
When Hamilton decided to leave for Ferrari starting in 2025 — and Leclerc having already redone his deal with the Scuderia — it made Carlos Sainz Jr. the biggest free agent on the driver transfer market.
Speculation followed Sainz from track to track, but ultimately Sainz cast his lot with James Vowles and Williams on a multi-year deal with “options to extend” beyond the 2026 season.
That is also the last year of the deal his new teammate, Alexander Albon, signed in the spring of 2024.
Audi
Lost in the news over Cadillac joining the grid for the 2026 season is the fact that the American team will not be the only “new” team on the grid. The 2025 season marks the final campaign for Sauber, ahead of Audi taking over that operation as a works team in 2026.
But ahead of the 2025 season, Audi lined up their driver pairing on long-term deals. Nico Hülkenberg was confirmed as Audi’s first F1 driver ahead of the 2024 Miami Grand Prix and is signed with the team through 2026. As is incoming rookie, and 2024 F2 Drivers’ Champion, Gabriel Bortoleto.
Cadillac
Formula 1’s newest team will debut with a pair of drivers who are anything but new to the grid.
Earlier this season Cadillac announced that veterans Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez will be their two drivers when next season begins.
Alpine
As many expected, Alpine confirmed earlier this season that veteran Pierre Gasly will be back with the team, having signed a “multi-year extension” that will keep him in Enstone through 2028.
However, the second seat was a matter of debate.
That is, until today, when Alpine confirmed that Franco Colapinto will be back for 2026. Colapinto has not scored a point yet with Alpine, but the team is betting on the future, starting with their challenger for the 2026 season. Alpine’s last major upgrade to the A525 came at the Spanish Grand Prix, and the am has since then completely turned the page to 2026.
Now their driver pairing is set as well.
Mercedes
Mercedes began the year with both George Russell and Kimi Antonelli on expiring contracts, with Russell on the final year of his current deal and the rookie Antonelli on a one-year contract. As the season lingered without any news on the contractual front — and rumors persisted regarding Team Principal Toto Wolff pursuing Max Verstappen — whether this would remain their driver lineup into 2026 remained a matter of debate.
But the team put that to rest ahead of the United States Grand Prix, signing the two for next season.
Red Bull
Here is where the remaining intrigue begins.
Max Verstappen signed a long-term deal with Red Bull back in the 2022 season that can keep him with the team through 2028. Despite lingering rumors of a potential move to Mercedes, the Silver Arrows have retained George Russell and Kimi Antonelli for next season, and Verstappen will be back next year.
As for who his teammate will be, Red Bull believed they put that matter to rest with a new deal for Sergio Pérez last summer, but as the results failed to follow, they moved in a different direction for 2025. The team parted ways with Pérez and signed Liam Lawson to a one-year deal for this season.
But then Lawson struggled, and the team promoted Yuki Tsunoda to Red Bull and dropped Lawson to Visa Cash App Racing Bulls.
Whether Tsunoda has done enough to keep that seat for next season, or the team turns to rookie Isack Hadjar who has shined this year at VCARB, remains to be seen.
Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team
Now we turn to Red Bull’s sister team.
VCARB began this year with a pairing of Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar, with Hadjar making the leap from F2 and Tsunoda being passed over for the spot at Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen.
But as Liam Lawson struggled to open the year, he was dropped to VCARB, and Tsunoda was promoted to Red Bull.
There is every expectation in the paddock that Hadjar will earn a promotion to Red Bull for next season. Whether that means that VCARB will have Tsunoda and Lawson for next year — or rising star Arvid Lindblad will take one of those spots — is an open question.
