Mercedes’ announcement today that it will keep its current driver line-up for at least one more year leaves just four seats yet to be confirmed for the 2026 F1 season.

Red Bull are yet to confirm who will be Max Verstappen’s team mate next year. Meanwhile the line-up at their junior team Racing Bulls is also up in the air and Alpine is yet to finalise its pairing for next year.

Red Bull: one seat

Red Bull’s next move on the driver market is one of the trickiest decisions facing its recently-installed new team principal Laurent Mekies.

His predecessor Christian Horner handed a two-year contract extension to Sergio Perez in June last year. But as his form collapsed alongside Verstappen, Horner performed a U-turn by the end of the season. This time 12 months ago Perez was repeatedly insisting his seat was safe for 2025, but he soon learned that was not the case.

Tsunoda has fallen to 17th in the championship

Having persisted with Perez for four years, Red Bull then gave up on his replacement, Liam Lawson, after just two rounds. However the latest driver to take up the seat, Yuki Tsunoda, has not performed better to a significant degree.

Now it’s up to Mekies to decide who is best to partner Verstappen. His decision may be influenced by the possibility their star driver could leave the team at the end of next season if Red Bull fail to master the incoming new regulations.

Keeping the faith in Tsunoda or giving Lawson a proper chance are both options. Promoting impressive rookie Isack Hadjar from Racing Bulls could give the opportunity for a fresh start. But whichever way he goes, Mekies has the benefit of having worked with all three drivers this year when he makes his choice.

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Racing Bulls: two seats

Red Bull’s junior team exists to prepare new talents for a shot at the top team. But lately it has also become a home for drivers who left Red Bull: Lawson, Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly and others.

Hadjar is out-scoring Red Bull returnee Lawson

It could serve both purposes next year, particularly if Mekies decides to keep both Lawson and Tsunoda in F1. Hadjar, meanwhile, has driven well enough to be considered for a promotion if they believe the time is right.

Red Bull do have options to promote from the lower categories: notably Arvid Lindblad and potentially Alex Dunne, the former McLaren junior driver who has been linked to the team. But with new regulations coming in, keeping a stable driver line-up would have an obvious appeal.

Alpine: one seat

Alpine is another team which has already changed its driver line-up once this year: Jack Doohan’s ousting in favour of Franco Colapinto was widely predicted. But when the team’s executive consultant Flavio Briatore said Colapinto’s initial results were not what he expected, doubt over his future began to creep in.

Lately, however, Colapinto has been more of a match for experienced team mate Pierre Gasly. The team previously indicated reserve driver Paul Aron was under consideration for a promotion but Colapinto offers an attractive combination of performance plus sponsorship which make him a strong candidate for a seat.

View the current list of 2026 F1 drivers and teams

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