Between Abu Dhabi 2023 and the beginning of the 2024 season in Bahrain, there were no moves in the F1 driver market. The teams settled for continuity going into the new season. However, this time round has seen a lot of change.
Sparked by Lewis Hamilton’s shock move to Ferrari, the driver market has exploded. Some drivers swapped teams like Carlos Sainz joining Williams. However, others have decided to go for the youthful route.
Who are the young F1 talents coming in?
Liam Lawson and Franco Colapinto have already begun their F1 journey, although neither has a seat sorted for next season. Lawson has impressed since re-joining VCARB and replacing Daniel Ricciardo and is pushing for the second Red Bull seat next season with Sergio Perez still struggling. Colapinto is doing a good job for Williams since replacing Logan Sargeant, scoring points and showing off his skills.
Ollie Bearman has deputized for both Ferrari and Haas this season. He scored points on his Ferrari debut in Saudi Arabia and also on his Haas debut in Azerbaijan. However, his inexperience of showed during an error-strewn Brazilian Grand Prix.
Kimi Antonelli has replaced Hamilton at Mercedes. In his book Inside Mercedes F1, Toto Wolff admitted the team were considering Hamilton’s “shelf-life” and Mercedes was always looking towards Antonelli in the future. Hamilton’s decision to jump ship to Ferrari all but sealed Antonelli in F1 next season.
Gabriel Bortoleto is the other rookie coming in next season, joining Nico Hulkenberg at Kick Sauber. He currently leads the F2 championship with two races remaining and won the F3 title in his rookie year. Jack Doohan will also join Alpine having been their reserve driver.
What factors saw the young talent picked over the old guard?
Five stalwarts of F1 were let go by their teams for younger talent. There were many factors leading to why this occurred. Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu and Kevin Magnussen all had their contracts expiring at the end of the season. This meant it would cost the team nothing to let them go and bring in replacements. Doing so last season would have cost them money to break the contract.
There is also the Ollie Bearman effect. After standing in for Carlos Sainz in Saudi Arabia, he proved a younger driver can still do a good job for the team. It made other teams realise the pool of talent in F2 currently and want to get them into their cars before other teams snap them up.
The 2025 season can also be seen as a transitional year to a degree. With the new regulations taking place in 2026, this season is the last of the ground effect era. This means the rookies might have a little leeway to learn the trade before the new era starts the following year.
