Canadian Grand Prix | The game of musical chairs is in full swing

Some are happy to have already found a place. Others try not to worry too much. Others, again, know only too well that they might run out of time.

The game of musical chairs is in full swing in Formula 1. As mid-season approaches, no less than 9 of the 20 drivers competing for the 2024 championship do not yet know with certainty which colors they will defend in 2025.

There were even more of them at the start of the campaign, since Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) only recently extended their association with their respective teams. Not to mention Lewis Hamilton (moving from Mercedes to Ferrari) and Nico Hülkenberg (from Haas to Sauber), who have already known for a while that they will change paddocks.

The transfer market, if you can call it that, is hotter than ever. And the scenarios are numerous.

Hülkenberg, for example. At 36, he finds himself in a position he has, by his own admission, never experienced before. A middle driver, even from the back of the grid, since his entry on the circuit in 2010, he has until now eked out a life from contract to contract, without a lasting plan. With an agreement already valid for 2025 in his pocket, he finally says he is in a “comfortable” position, especially after having been “on the other side” for so long, that of uncertainty. “It’s a good situation to find yourself in,” he testified Thursday at a press briefing.

Close to him, Sergio Pérez also looked like a relieved man. In recent days, Red Bull granted him a two-year contract extension. “Negotiating between races is not easy,” he admitted. I’m happy to put this distraction aside. »

In this game, the happiness of one person necessarily causes the misfortune of others. Pérez’s seat at Red Bull was undoubtedly the most coveted on the grid. A priori, we could say the same thing about the one that Hamilton leaves vacant at Mercedes, but it seems that the young Italian prodigy Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who grew up within the team, could become the Briton’s runner-up at only 18 years old. .

Sainz, Ocon…

For now, Carlos Sainz appears to be the main loser in the drivers’ waltz. For the one who will have to give up his place to Hamilton at Ferrari, the future is not clear. “There are still several options on the table,” he assured journalists on Thursday at the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit.

He has fun reading the rumors about him. These sent him sometimes to Mercedes, sometimes to Red Bull, sometimes to Williams. What he is looking for as a priority is an agreement lasting several seasons. “I firmly believe that in Formula 1, to be successful, you need a medium or long term project,” he said.

The current holder of fourth place in the drivers’ standings is well aware that he will probably have to take advantage of the coming months to get on the podium, given the gap that separates the three leading teams from the other seven. Regardless, the regulatory changes planned for 2026, announced Thursday morning by the FIA, should narrow the gap in the peloton, according to him. “It will be a turning point,” he believes. I think the future is very positive for me. »

For him as for others, it should not be surprising if things accelerate over the next few weeks, or even over the next few days.

There is no shortage of intriguing candidates. Esteban Ocon has just announced that he and Alpine have “mutually” agreed to part ways at the end of this season. A clash between his teammate Pierre Gasly and him, two weeks ago in Monaco, caused a lot of noise. Even if the news of his departure from the team quickly followed, there should be no causal link, he insisted.

“We’ve been talking for months,” he said, during one of the most popular press scrums of the day. Alpine is not the kind of team that makes decisions based on one race. »

Without experiencing breathtaking results on the track, Ocon nevertheless gave the French team, in 2021, its only triumph to date.

Pierre Gasly is also without a contract at the end of the season, by the way. Casually, he said that it was “still early” to decide on his future and that, moreover, he found the excitement of the moment “exciting”.

Guanyu, Bottas, Magnussen…

The moment Ocon’s departure was made official, Zhou Guanyu’s name was associated with Alpine, where he was a test driver when he arrived in Formula 1. The main person concerned was very enthusiastic about the idea, emphasizing the “good connection” he always had with the organization that “gave him [sa] chance “. “Nothing is confirmed,” he nevertheless clarified, cautiously.

If Guanyu is shopping for a position, it is because he already knows that he or Valtteri Bottas – if not both – will have to leave Sauber to make room for Nico Hülkenberg in 2025.

Bottas, 34, said he should “do [son] choice quickly.” After prosperous years at Mercedes (two second and two third places in the general classification), he had to make do with less prestigious steering wheels at Alfa Romeo then at Sauber.

“I feel like they want changes within the team,” he said. […] I’ve always been told I’m part of the project, but it’s been quieter recently. I have to read the situation carefully and make my decisions accordingly. »

Could he find himself without a job in 2025? a reporter asked him. “I’m hopeful I’ll find a seat,” he replied. But in this sport, nothing is assured before signing a contract. »

Kevin Magnussen, at Haas, agreed that there “is a chance” that he will be the excess driver when everyone has settled down. “The team knows me well, I don’t think I have to prove anything to them,” he said. He informed management of his desire to stay; However, without losing hope, he knows that the ball is not in his court.

“I want to race in Formula 1,” he insisted. Until that’s no longer a possibility, I’m going to focus on this. »

Never, to his knowledge, have so many pilots found themselves without a contract in the same year. In this context, “the most important thing is to stay positive and keep calm”.

“When I was younger, I would have been more stressed and I would have felt more pressure,” he philosophized. Today I can put that aside, get back in the car and drive. »

This actually looks like the best solution. Although it’s probably easier said than done.