Revealed: The five drivers out of contract at the end of the F1 2024 season

While there was zero driver movement between the last race of F1 2023 and the first of F1 2024, expect the coming months to be carnage on the driver market…

Astonishingly, not a single driver left their seat after the final race of 2023, with every team remaining faithful to the driver line-ups that took part in the final grand prix of 2023. It’s the first time it’s ever happened in Formula 1 but, with plenty of contracts up for negotiation going into 2024, here are the drivers who will all be eager to get their contracts renewed to stay on the grid for F1 in 2025…

Drivers out of contract at end of F1 2024

Logan Sargeant (Williams)

The American driver was fortunate to survive last winter, having had to wait until after the final race of 2023 to have a contract extension announced.

Having shown flashes of speed, Sargeant proved inconsistent and prone to mistakes – although these weren’t unforgivable in a rookie season.

A poor start to the season led to Williams boss James Vowles openly courting drivers to become Alex Albon’s team-mate for F1 2025, with the signing of Carlos Sainz announced the day after the Belgian Grand Prix.

Sargeant’s F1 journey is highly likely to end here.

Daniel Ricciardo (RB)

Ricciardo secured a fairytale return to the grid in 2023, having seemingly lost his career in ignominious fashion at the end of ’22 after two tough years at McLaren.

While a broken hand interrupted his F1 comeback, he showed enough promise for Red Bull to give him a seat with the sister team for ’24.

Valtteri Bottas (Stake F1)

Bottas, like Kimi Raikkonen before him, landed on his feet with a lower-pressure gig in the midfield after stepping back from a front-running team.

But while Raikkonen enjoyed a largely competitive car during his first two seasons with Sauber (then Alfa Romeo), Bottas can hardly say the same.

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A smattering of points finishes aside, Bottas and Sauber (now Stake F1 Team) have had quite anonymous campaigns in the lower midfield, with Bottas hardly trouncing Zhou Guanyu to the extent one might have imagined.

As solid and reliable as ever, Bottas is eager to hang on long enough to get a chance to drive for Audi when they arrive in 2026, but will the Finn be able to do enough to reach that marker? Only a new two-year deal will do…

Zhou Guanyu (Stake F1)

Zhou is in basically the exact same position as Bottas, albeit with more youth on his side – giving rise to the possibility of a lot more potential still to be unlocked.

Zhou has proven a pleasant surprise in the midfield and, had he not had a disastrous start in Budapest in ’23, might have enjoyed a bit more buzz about him heading into the new season.

Having had to be content with the same level of midfield anonymity as Bottas, Zhou needs a strong result to perk things up as the end of his current contract looms.

Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

Having been dropped by Haas once before, before being brought back as the American squad needed a dependable driver behind the wheel after dropping Nikita Mazepin, the Danish driver has needed to prove Haas wrong as to why they axed him.

The glorious start to 2022 is long in the history books, as is the Brazil pole, as Magnussen struggled – and was open about said struggles – to adjust to the VF-23 to achieve the same results as Nico Hulkenberg.

While Hulkenberg was able to pop in some eye-opening qualifying sessions to underline his speed during ’23, Magnussen largely had a season to forget – he needs a big one in ’24 if he’s to get another chance beyond this year.

And if he is to get another chance in F1, it won’t be with Haas. Ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, it was announced the two parties would be parting ways at the end of the year.

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