Over half of the F1 grid have their contracts expiring at the end of 2024 with some teams already making moves on the 2025 driver line-up. The 2024 pre-season saw both Ferrari and McLaren lock down their drivers by extending their contracts with Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris respectively, while Ferrari also announced the hiring of Lewis Hamilton for the 2025 season.
With so many contracts running out in 2024, this is how long each driver has left:
Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes – Contract finishing at the end of 2024
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, arrives at track
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Ahead of the start of the 2024 season, Lewis Hamilton shocked many by announcing he would be leaving Mercedes at the end of the year. The seven-time world champion activated an exit clause within his contract, giving him just one more season with the silver arrows before he joins Ferrari in 2025.
The news came four months after the British driver announced he had signed a contract with Mercedes to stay with the team until the end of 2025. This had dispelled the speculation that Hamilton was looking for a shock switch to a rival team, which had begun emerging at the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix.
Hamilton previously signed two contract extensions in a single year in 2021, putting pen to paper on a one-year deal for that campaign, before sealing his place through to the end of 2023. He joined Mercedes in 2013 and had previously stressed that he was fully committed to the team, saying in August 2023: “Obviously in the summer I signed, and obviously, at that time, I saw my future with Mercedes. But an opportunity came up at the end of the year, and I decided to take it.”
Carlos Sainz – Ferrari – Contract until end of 2024
Carlos Sainz, Scuderia Ferrari
Photo by: Jake Grant / Motorsport Images
Carlos Sainz will lose his seat at Ferrari at the end of 2024, with the team replacing him with Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. The Spaniard joined the team in 2021 following six years racing for Toro Rosso, Renault and McLaren.
Sainz had previously said he was content to wait until the 2023/2024 off-season before starting contract negotiations with Ferrari, however he has now lost his seat to the seven-time world champion and it is unsure where he will end up in 2025. Paddock rumours have repeatedly linked him with a possible future move to Audi when it completes its Sauber takeover in 2026, but he has denied any…
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