by VALERIO BARRETTA
F1 2025, the intriguing names for the market
Until last summer, 2025 was a huge question mark. The two Mercedes drivers, the second Red Bull driver and the two Ferrari drivers were formally without a steering wheel, i.e. five of the six (theoretically) best seats on the square.
With the renewals of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell announced last year and those of Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris arriving this week, the situation has changed dramatically. This poker of aces has settled down for the foreseeable future: the two Mercedes drivers are in place until 2025 inclusive, while Leclerc and Norris have instead obtained a long-term extension, in which the teams did not want to specify the deadline.
Eyes on Sainz
For 2025, therefore, the market scenarios have been reduced in number and will see unexpected protagonists. Carlos remains Sainz, who at this point has the eyes of the whole paddock on him: the Spaniard is in negotiations with Ferrari for an extension, he has repeatedly stated that he wants to stay in Maranello for a long time and for him Leclerc's renewal was not an alarm. But, until there is black and white on the contract with the Reds, his name will always be at the top of the list of those with a vacant position.
Next on this list are names that were unforeseeable until a few days ago. Now, in fact, Alex Albon becomes even more attractive, and would be even more so if the rumors linked to an exit from his contract at Williams became reality. The Anglo-Thai has impressed with his consistent performance and is ready to face a new challenge in a big team after his unhappy experience in Red Bull in 2019-2020.
In addition to Albon there are other riders who are looking around: among these, the most intriguing names are Sergio Perez, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly and Daniel Ricciardo. And (in addition to young people from outside like Liam Lawson) then there is a “crazy” variable: it is naturally Fernando Alonsostill in great shape but whose movements are often difficult to read, and the break with Alpine in the summer of 2022 confirms this.
Yes, but who are you looking for?
Since marriages happen in two, we also need to see which teams have an interesting seat available. At the moment, Ferrari only Leclerc has confirmed and until Sainz's renewal it will be impossible to exclude her from the hypotheses, but the second seat of the team would seem much more in the balance Red Bull, especially if Perez continues to disappoint. In the second tier, there are Aston Martin (always in relation to Alonso's future) and a move with a view to 2026: it is the Stake F1 Team, which will become Audi with the next generation of power units. A gamble that could pay off a lot in two years.
#market #revolves #Sainz
