The twin confirmations of extended deals for Charles Leclerc at Ferrari and Lando Norris at McLaren may not be much of a surprise, and are perhaps less exciting than if either driver was moving elsewhere.
Nevertheless, they are also important statements by both the teams and the drivers, who are making very public displays of faith in each other.
The deals are just the latest steps in a chess game amongst the teams that started slowly last year, with all 20 drivers on the 2023 F1 grid eventually confirmed as staying on for this season – the first time ever that there have been no changes between campaigns.
However, that was the calm before the storm, as we are sure to see a lot more moves ahead of 2025.
Everything that goes on in the driver market over the next 20 or so months has to be considered in the context of the new regulations that come into force in 2026.
At this point no one can judge which of the six power unit suppliers will have the upper hand, and the prospects of newcomers Audi and Ford/Red Bull are a complete unknown.
Every driver wants to do what Lewis Hamilton did when he signed for Mercedes in September 2012, leaving McLaren and positioning himself to have the best power unit and overall car package when the hybrid V6 regulations arrived in 2014.
Leclerc and Norris are only the third and fourth drivers whose contracts now cross over into the new era of 2026 and beyond.
The first to commit was Max Verstappen, whose Red Bull deal runs to 2028, and the second was Oscar Piastri, whose McLaren contract was extended to 2026 last year.
Both teams involved in the latest announcements were coy about the details. Leclerc will now be at Maranello for “several more seasons”, while Norris was already committed to 2025 before extending this to a “multi-year contract.”
We can safely assume that both are firmly secure at their respective teams until at least the end of 2027, presumably with options already in place for after that date.
The only other drivers with deals that extend beyond this season are Lewis Hamilton and George Russell at Mercedes, both of whom are currently on board until the end of 2025.
Everything else is up for grabs for 2025 and thereafter – including a prime seat alongside Verstappen at Red Bull Racing.
As such we are set for a season of speculation and gossip as teams and drivers sound each other out and look to secure the optimum deals before the music stops and seats are filled not…
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