One of the most entertaining things to do as an F1 fan is to predict the driver lineup for the next season.
We update our predictions at regular intervals, although not after every race. If a driver is marked in bold, it means he has already been confirmed by the team for that particular seat.
Last updated: 4 December 2025 (all moves now official)
McLaren
Lando Norris – Oscar Piastri
Both drivers confirmed. Probably the best lineup in Formula One.
Red Bull
Max Verstappen – Isack Hadjar
Both drivers confirmed. Verstappen is obviously the best driver in the world. Promoting Hadjar is in line with Red Bull’s philosophy of developing their own drivers, but it would have been more interesting if they had brought a top driver from elsewhere into the team as Hadjar isn’t ready for the challenge yet.
Ferrari
Charles Leclerc – Lewis Hamilton
Both drivers confirmed. Nice to have Leclerc. Hamilton probably won’t improve much at this stage in his career, but he has great marketing value.
Mercedes
George Russell – Kimi Antonelli
Both drivers confirmed. It would have been more fun if Toto Wolff had actually signed Verstappen, but supposedly that can wait a year.
Williams
Carlos Sainz – Alex Albon
Both drivers confirmed. Very solid midfield pairing.
Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso – Lance Stroll
Both drivers confirmed. Alonso still racing hard. Meanwhile, it is an absolute embarrassment for Formula One that Stroll is still on the grid.
Alpine
Pierre Gasly – Franco Colapinto
Both drivers confirmed. A bit of an uninspired lineup, but Pierre Gasly is very solid and already confirmed for 2025. Franco Colapinto is not a superstar, but he’s decent despite his little experience. He performed near Albon’s level in 2024 (seriously impressive) and has been fairly close to Gasly in some races this year. He also comes with many Argentine sponsors, which is probably the real reason for his extension.
Haas
Esteban Ocon – Oliver Bearman
Both drivers confirmed. A bit surprising that Bearman is already faster than Ocon. Perhaps Haas should already try to add one more talent rather than keep the average Frenchman around. They could have signed Rafael Câmara, but he will have to wait a year.
Racing Bulls
Liam Lawson – Arvid Lindblad
Both drivers confirmed. This is the second-worst pairing on the grid. Lawson is very underwhelming, and this is likely his final year in the sport, while Lindblad doesn’t seem ready for F1 yet. He’s the biggest talent in the Red Bull academy but hasn’t performed super well in F2. The good news for Lindblad is that teams don’t care about that any more, as they saw his potential in karting. Lindblad will likely match Lawson immediately, but that isn’t saying much.
Audi
Nico Hülkenberg – Gabriel Bortoleto
Both drivers confirmed. Solid combination of experience and potential, but they will eventually need a better driver. Hülkenberg has enjoyed a great comeback over the last three years, but he will start to decline at some point. Bortoleto can be a good driver but he is more suited as a #2, not as a team leader. Rumours say Audi signed Freddie Slater to their academy, which is a great decision.
Cadillac
Valtteri Bottas – Sergio Pérez
Both drivers confirmed. Very, very underwhelming lineup. They should have gone for at least one young talented driver. Instead they have two aging, superannuated number two pilots. The only good thing to say is that Pérez has a history of sometimes performing well in bad cars due to his tyre management skills.
Out of F1
Yuki Tsunoda, Jack Doohan
These drivers will find themselves without seats. Tsunoda appears to be staying with Red Bull as a third driver, but he’ll probably move to Aston Martin-Honda and become their test/reserve driver after a year or so.
Summary
There won’t be too many changes to the grid in 2026. The big news is that Cadillac is entering, but sadly bringing back two over-the-hill drivers without much upside.
Aside from Cadillac joining, we find changes at Red Bull and Racing Bulls. It will be interesting to see how Hadjar performs next to Verstappen, and if Lindblad can live up to the hype after a fairly disappointing F2 campaign.
Check out our 2027 silly season article next! It gets a bit crazier.
