Within the house of 24 hours, two of F1’s most highly-rated racers dedicated their futures to their respective groups, with Charles Leclerc extending his keep at Ferrari for “a number of” extra seasons past 2024 and Lando Norris signing on the dotted line to elongate his stint at McLaren.
That each groups had been opaque with the element of how lengthy the respective contracts would run suggests they’re long-term, however will doubtless have break clauses constructed through which both the motive force or staff can train at sure factors.
However for the foreseeable, they’ll relaxation assured they received’t be requested relentless questions on their future at every Grand Prix weekend. The identical can’t be stated for a lot of of their rivals, although, with many of the grid with work to do on their very own offers.
Sainz eager to lock down his future
High of that checklist is Carlos Sainz – the Spaniard out of contract at Ferrari on the finish of this season. The 29-year-old is eager to know what he’ll be doing in 2025 earlier than the beginning of this coming marketing campaign – and he’s believed to be eager on securing a brand new two-year deal.
READ MORE: Norris agrees new ‘prolonged multi-year’ contract with McLaren
Ferrari price him extremely, his consistency one in all his nice strengths via his time with the Scuderia. Not having sorted a deal but isn’t alarming. These items take time. It’s also believed Ferrari’s plan was all the time to nail Leclerc’s future down after which transfer to the second seat. Nevertheless, now that’s executed and dusted, the Sainz camp will need solutions quickly.
The Italian staff are assessing their choices for that seat and are understood to have a number of avenues they might discover to discover a accomplice for Leclerc, from skilled racers to these busy making a reputation for themselves.
Ought to they select to not retain Sainz, the Spaniard may have a plethora of choices, so robust has he been throughout his time at Ferrari, although his probabilities of shifting to a prime staff are restricted – until one thing adjustments with these already beneath contract.
Purple Bull is the perfect accessible choice for 2025, with Sergio Perez’s contract up on the finish of the yr. Boss Christian Horner has stated it’s the Mexican’s seat to lose. Ship, and he has a robust probability of staying. Battle once more and Sainz, who was previously a part of the Purple Bull household and spent shut to a few years with Toro Rosso, could be a effective contender.
ANALYSIS: Loyalty, title-winning ambitions and unwavering religion – Norris and McLaren is a partnership that simply works
His former McLaren boss Andreas Seidl stays an admirer and would like to have Sainz onboard at Hinwil, the place the Sauber-run staff will develop into Audi in 2026. Nevertheless, this might be a a lot greater threat for Sainz, at a time of his profession the place he’s heading properly in direction of his peak. As Williams’ star continues to rise, the British staff may very well be a possible vacation spot for him too.
May we sooner or later see Albon in purple?
Working Sainz shut for the accolade of greatest key to the motive force market is Alex Albon. Williams naturally wish to hold the Thai racer, who single-handedly guided the staff to seventh within the constructors’ final yr.
Albon and his staff are believed to have been concerned in talks with at the least half of the grid a couple of transfer sooner or later, with two groups – Alpine and Haas – having been eager on his companies for 2023.
Ferrari are understood to be one of many events, whereas my sources say Purple Bull engineers price him extremely. It’s fairly the turnaround for the Thai driver, who needed to battle to get again on the grid after being dropped by Purple Bull in 2020.
READ MORE: Leclerc indicators new Ferrari contract extension ‘past 2024 season’
Ought to Albon ship strongly within the opening half of the season, and if Sainz hasn’t but signed a take care of Ferrari or made a transfer elsewhere, the 2 of them would be the greatest speaking factors within the driver market.
What’s within the playing cards for the likes of Alonso and Ricciardo?
Elsewhere, Aston Martin shall be working exhausting to signal Fernando Alonso past the tip of 2024, the double world champion having had a transformative impact on the billionaire Lawrence Stroll-owned staff, whereas Alpine have each seats free as Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly’s respective contracts enter their closing yr.
Purple Bull have loads of alternative concerning their second seat, with the possibility to see Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda up shut at newly-christened sister staff RB, and reserve Liam Lawson ready within the wings.
Ought to RB make a serious step this yr – the Italian staff previously often known as AlphaTauri set to have a better relationship with Purple Bull – they’ll shortly develop into a really enticing proposition for drivers elsewhere on the grid.
ANALYSIS: Why a much less inflexible deal for Leclerc and Ferrari is smart for each side
At Kick Sauber, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu have time to show they’ve a spot in Audi’s future, with each offers coming to an finish come the season of the season – although they’ll know their respective seats shall be of nice curiosity to these round them, in addition to some rising stars banging on the door.
After which there are the seats at Williams and Haas – and the intriguing prospect of seeing if Mercedes junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli can proceed his meteoric rise via the junior formulae and step as much as F1 after only one season in F2 and having skipped F3.
So after an unprecedented yr with no driver adjustments in any respect from 2023 into 2024, it seems to be like there may very well be much more motion on the finish of this season within the driver market…