by Summer is traditionally the “Silly season” of Formula 1, in which there are many rumors and lists of surprise (sometimes). Since 2025 seems to be no different, we analyze the current state of the game in the entire network that looks at the next season.
Verstappen and Red Bull
The biggest question mark that hangs over the network is the goal of the four -fold champion Max Verstappen. The Dutchman has a contract with Red Bull by 2028 and undertakes to honor this if he is interviewed by Telegraph sport in May.
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However, it is assumed that there is a kind of performance -related publication clause in its contract. It could be associated with its championship position or its results at a certain time in the season. The non-finish on Sunday in the Austrian Grand Prix will not have helped-he is now 61 points of the leader Oscar Piatri and now only nine before the fourth place by George Russell. If there was no way to get him out, Mercedes would not talk to him about next year.
Verstappen and Red Bull were an enormously successful combination and won the last four driver titles and 65 Grands Prix. Why should Verstappen leave this environment after just a sub-standard season?
Several reasons. The Red Bull from 2023 – when Verstappen won a record of 19 races – is not the Red Bull from 2025. In the past 12 months, the Dutch has won only four out of 25 races compared to 26 of the previous 32nd McLaren. The McLaren is clearly the class of the field and Red Bull fell behind Mercedes and Ferrari.
It is not only the competitiveness that has changed, but there were numerous drains (especially Adrian Newey to Aston Martin) and a power struggle in the team – in which Verstappen’s father Jos is involved.
Lately there have been a number of changes in Red Bull, with team boss Christian Horner tried to deal with a power struggle – AP/Denes Erdos
In 2026, significant changes in regulatory changes with new performance units will come into force. It is believed that Mercedes are currently leading with these machines, which produces 50 percent of their output through an internal combustion engine and 50 percent through electrical generation of electricity.
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In view of her history and his contract, it would be a surprise that Verstappen is leaving Red Bull (Toto Wolff said that the probability was low), but not as surprising as it was 18 months ago. Verstappen is a born winner; If he sees an opportunity to find another winning team, why shouldn’t he at least consider it?
Who would leave Mercedes – Russell or Antonelli?
Both Mercedes drivers are not a contract at the end of the season. Russell has performed well at Mercedes this year. The results of rookie teenager Kimi Antonelli were up and down. Sometimes he was brilliant, others showed his inexperience, as we saw on Sunday.
What happens at Mercedes depends on what Verstappen decides. If he stays in Red Bull, it will be Russell and Antonelli in 2026. Russell has developed into the role of the team leader and culminated in his seventh season in the F1. Like everyone else, he appears in 2025, perhaps apart from Verstappen or Piatri. Antonelli has shown more than enough promise that he is worth capturing it.
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Wolff signed Antonelli to avoid that what he believes could be a generation talent for another team with regard to the line. In view of the Austrians who still wise that they could not sign Verstappen before he was on paper with Red Bull Abbey, it would be ironically to give it up to the Dutchman.
A harder call would drop Russell. Having him and Verstappen together would be the strongest drive line -up on the net, but it could also be a combustible pairing that continued in 2025. From 2014-2016, Wolff experienced a broken driver in a dominant Mercedes when Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton were teammates. You would imagine that he would hesitate to repeat it.
Will George Russell be at Mercedes this time this time? – AFP/Joe Klamar
The “other” big Red Bull question
If Verstappen went to Mercedes, his replacement could not keep the Mercedes. This still leaves them with a problem: the second seat. This is also a problem that does not disappear when there is a stappen.
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Since Sergio Pérez ‘Form 2024 dropped dramatically, Red Bull could not find a suitable replacement. If you want to compete in F1 as a constructor, you need two cars that can score healthy points, not just one.
In 2025, Liam Lawson fell after two races that were replaced by Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese driver was a little improvement, but has only scored 10 points since he joined the team. At the same time, Verstappen achieved 119 with two wins.
It is unlikely that Tsunoda will improve enough to keep its seat for 2026. Then who is next? Lawson has already been promoted and downgraded back to the junior team, so the current F1 driver’s pool, which only leaves Isack Hadjar. Hadjar was impressed by racing bulls and may be happy enough with her driver -friendly car (the RB21 is anything but friendly), but he may have no choice but to be promoted to Red Bull.
In Red Bull’s current pool of junior drivers in F2 there are Arvid Lindblad (currently sixth in the overall ranking), Pepe Marti (seventh) and Oliver Goethe (15th). It would also be extreme for Red Bull to promote a driver from F2 to the main team. It is not impossible that one of them will get a run in the late season at Racing Bulls. When Tsunoda is encouraged by Red Bull and Hadjar. Lindblad will drive in Silverstone in FP1 this week.
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Could Red Bull want experience? Valtteri Bottas – a winner of 10 Grands Prix – who last drove in the F1 in 2024, is still on the market, as is Pérez. The team would make the team look like the new signing of the Mexican. In view of Red Bull’s operating mode, both seem to be unlikely.
It is highly unlikely that Sergio Perez will return to Red Bull, but is not entirely in question
Pressure on Vasseur in Ferrari
Charles Leclerc and Hamilton are locked up for 2026. Apart from injuries or retirement, there will be no changes in Maranello. However, the team leader Frederic Vasseur has increased the exam of the Italian press recently. Ferrari missed the title of constructors in 2024 for McLaren by only 15 points, but there are not yet in 2025 and has well documented problems with your car.
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In Italy there is speculation that Vasseur is under pressure to keep his job. If Ferrari does not win, the team director is the status quo in this position. Given the fact of how much Vasseur did surgically and culturally for the team, a change at the top would be a shock before the end of the year.
The rest of the network
The other free seats outside the four best teams are a seat in Alpine, two each with New Entry Cadillac and Racing Bulls (as explained above). Bottas recently seemed to be a leader for the team led by GM, although Pérez would not be a bad bet.
Both men should also be considered to become Pierre Gasly’s teammates in Alpine because Jack Doohan and Franco Colapinto played next to him. In fact, the race reports that Bottas should even be set up in addition to the French this season.
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It is likely that Tsunoda will also be outside the seat at the end of the year, which makes him another option for alpine or Cadillac. Other most recent F1 drivers, who may be suitable for Alpine or Cadillac, could be Guanyu Zhou and Mick Schumacher, although no one is equipped with the strongest result sheet in F1.
Felipe Drugovich, the current Aston Martin Reserve Driver and 2022 F2 Champion, searched home every time he has entered an F1 car. It helps his chances that he is currently taking part in the IMSA Sportscar Championship (and this year’s Le Mans 24 hours) with Cadillac Whelen.
Apart from that, it could be someone from the 2025 F2 season, although several are connected to other teams such as Alex Dunne (McLaren) and Luke Browning (Williams).
