F1 driver market: The latest rumours amid possible 2027 shake-up

With Formula 1 preparing to return from its August summer break, there is still much to be decided off the track regarding the 2027 driver market. 

The August break is typically a busy period filled with announcements about driver changes and contact renewals. But barring an unexpected team principal shake-up at newcomers Cadillac and a fairly unsurprising contract renewal for Alex Albon, it has been an unusually quiet summer for F1. 

That is despite more than half of the seats on next year’s F1 grid still to be confirmed. With a dozen seats officially up for grabs, many expected the latest silly season to be one of the most turbulent in recent times. Rather than widespread change, stability is looking more likely. 

So what is the latest on the rumours and possible driver transfers? Here is everything we know about the current state of play in the F1 driver market…

The key dominoes yet to fall 

Much rests on Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso, who are the biggest players on the driver market yet to decide their futures. 

Verstappen and Alonso are set to be the first dominoes to fall, with whatever the multiple world champions choose to do set to have major ramifications on the rest of the grid. 

Verstappen’s future in particular has dominated F1 headlines in recent months. The 28-year-old Dutchman holds a contract with Red Bull until the end of 2028 but has a performance-related clause that could enable him to leave at the end of the year if he so wishes. 

It is known that Verstappen’s management team have talked with McLaren about a potential deal, but the Woking squad is happy with its current driver line-up featuring reigning world champion Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who have deals until 2027 and 2028 respectively. 

Any move to McLaren for Verstappen would require one of Norris or Piastri to vacate their seats. There is no reason why Norris would want to part ways with McLaren, or vice-versa, while Piastri is also settled and remains part of McLaren’s future plans. 

Despite speculation that Verstappen and Piastri could trade places in a direct seat swap, there is nothing concrete to suggest such a move could be on the cards. 

With McLaren seemingly not an option, and Mercedes (who Verstappen was heavily linked to in the early months of last year before he committed to Red Bull for 2026) and Ferrari also locked down for 2027, Verstappen staying at Red Bull seems the most realistic outcome at this stage. 

Verstappen previously threatened to quit F1 due to his displeasure with the 2026 regulations, though he has recently cooled his stance. A sabbatical from F1 cannot be totally ruled out as Verstappen continues to weighs up his future.

Alonso, meanwhile, revealed that he would use the August break to consider whether he wanted to continue racing in F1 next year. 

The two-time world champion stressed any decision he makes won’t be influenced solely by Aston Martin’s competitiveness, but encouraging improvements made following the introduction of a major upgrade in Hungary will have given cause for optimism that the Silverstone outfit can turnaround its fortunes after a truly disastrous start to 2026. 

Aston Martin has made it clear it wants Alonso to continue alongside Lance Stroll in 2027 and will be hoping the 45-year-old Spaniard decides against hanging up his helmet and chooses to further extend his record-breaking and illustrious F1 career. 

Alonso is likely to be quizzed on his future when he faces the media on Thursday at Zandvoort ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix. So we should soon get a better idea of where his head is at then. 

And what about the rest of the grid? 

Many teams will be waiting on Verstappen and Alonso to decide on their respective futures before taking any action. 

After failing to live up to expectations during what has been a miserable 2026 season, Williams is facing a battle to keep hold of Carlos Sainz, who has expressed doubts over whether he wants to continue with the team amid their ongoing struggles. 

Williams team principal James Vowles has successfully managed to convince Albon to stay with a one-year extension for 2027, and will be hoping he can also land a successful pitch to Sainz, whose deal expires at the end of the year. 

Sainz, who was unlucky to lose his Ferrari seat at the end of 2024, has been linked with Audi, but the German manufacturer is expected to continue with an unchanged line-up consisting of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto in 2027. 

With no realistic alternatives available to him at the moment, sticking with Williams appears the most likely prospect for Sainz, despite his current frustrations. 

Stability could well be the buzzword in the midfield pack, with Franco Colapinto considered to be doing enough to keep his seat alongside Pierre Gasly at Alpine. 

The status quo could also be maintained at Racing Bulls, with Arvid Lindblad set to build upon what has been an incredibly impressive rookie F1 season with Red Bull’s sister team. 

Liam Lawson is having a strong season and looks well placed to stay alongside Lindblad for 2027. However, the Kiwi’s future could be taken out of his hands if Red Bull decide to promote junior driver Nikola Tsolov, whose F1 hopes would surely increase if he were to win the Formula 2 championship he currently leads. 

Change seems most likely at Haas, with Esteban Ocon under pressure to keep his drive after being consistently outperformed by team-mate Ollie Bearman, whose loan from Ferrari is expected to continue in 2027. 

Reigning F2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli - currently on the books at McLaren - Haas reserve Ryo Hirakawa, former Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda and Ferrari junior Rafael Camara are all candidates who could replace the Frenchman if Haas decides to pull the trigger. 

On paper, Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas are safe for 2027 after both were signed on multi-year deals to provide Cadillac with much-needed experience for its debut F1 season. 

It is unclear whether Cadillac’s shock decision to sack founding team principal Graeme Lowdon, and replace him with ex-Alpine F1 boss Marcin Budkowski, will have any impact on its driver line-up plans.