F1 waves goodbye to a handful of drivers today

At the end of almost every season, F1 says goodbye to one or two drivers. However, this year, it will at least four – and potentially five.

There is a swathe of rookies coming onto the grid, just 12 months on from the first unchanged grid in championship history between the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the start of the current campaign.

Oliver Bearman – who already has three grand prix under his belt – is in at Haas. Jack Doohan, debuting at the Yas Marina Circuit this weekend in place of Esteban Ocon, will be with Alpine full-time in 2025.

Meanwhile, newly-crowned F2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto steps up with Stake and Kimi Antonelli fills Lewis Hamilton’s soon-to-be departed position at Mercedes.

Liam Lawson will get a full-time seat at RB (or Red Bull) next year. Despite this weekend being his eleventh as an F1 driver, next term will be considered his rookie season.

Therefore, some drivers will have to make room. Perhaps the biggest name is that of 10-time grand prix winner Valtteri Bottas.

He, like team-mate Guanyu Zhou, is being thanked for services rendered. The pair will be replaced next year by Nico Hulkenberg and the aforementioned Bortoleto.

Both Bottas and Zhou are emphatically mentioned as contenders for test and reserve roles at Mercedes and Ferrari, respectively, and rumours persist linking the Finnish driver to Red Bull, where Sergio Perez could yet make it a handful of departures.

If that does come to pass, Lawson is expected to move up to Red Bull, with Isack Hadjar, who lost out on the chance to fight for the F2 title in brutal circumstances, joining Yuki Tsunoda at RB.

In any case, any driver out of a full-time drive after today will likely at some point make a phone call to Cadillac F1, where two brand-new seats will become available in 2026.

At Haas F1, Kevin Magnussen will be waved goodbye, and for the second time. Several years ago, he already drove his last race, but was recalled after Russian Nikita Mazepin was shown the door following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Mazepin family’s ties to President Putin.

Similarly to 2021, the Danish driver will compete in endurance racing, this time with BMW. He is expected to be on Cadillac’s radar, having raced for them in his last break from F1.

Franco Colapinto, who replaced Logan Sargeant mid-season at Williams will exit as his seat is going to Carlos Sainz. Nevertheless, the Argentine remains linked to Doohan’s 2025 seat in what would be a ruthless switch if made.