The potential available seats on the Formula 1 grid for 2025 decreased by two on Thursday with multi-year extensions announced for Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
The terms of the contracts were not revealed other than being for “2025 and beyond.”
Gasly, 28, is in his second season with Alpine. He has accumulated only five points heading into this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix and Alpine is seventh in the constructors’ championship standings, but said he remains “faithful” that the team is heading in the right direction.
“I feel very much at home at this great team,” he said. “I’ve been officially here for over 18 months and it has always been the plan to build a long-term project with the team.”
Gasly’s teammate for 2025 remains to be seen. The team confirmed earlier this month that Esteban Ocon will leave at the end of the season. Alpine has reportedly engaged in conversations with Carlos Sainz, who will be leaving Ferrari and has also been in discussions with Williams and Sauber/Audi.
Stroll, 25, is the son of Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, and has been with Aston Martin since it rebranded from Racing Point in 2021. However, there had been some question about the future of Stroll, who has only 17 points this season compared to teammate Fernando Alonso’s 41.
Aston Martin sits fifth in the standings, and announced earlier this season that Alonso will return for 2025. With Thursday’s announcement, the team’s driver lineup for next year is now confirmed.
“I’m super happy to have committed to staying with the team for 2025 and beyond,” Stroll said. “It’s amazing to see how far we’ve come in the last five years.
“We’ve grown so much as a team and there’s still so much more to look forward to.”
As F1’s “silly season” of seat changes heats up, Sainz is the biggest remaining available name.
Haas has yet to officially lock up either of its seats for next year. Nico Hulkenberg will be leaving for Sauber/Audi at the end of the year, and Haas reportedly will give one of the seats to Ferrari protege Ollie Bearman.
The second seat is reportedly close to going to Ocon, which would leave Kevin Magnussen out of a ride. Magnussen said he has been in discussions with teams, but is comfortable with the idea of walking away from F1 at season’s end.
The Dane said he may pursue opportunities that interest him in other racing circuits.
“I am an active participant in contention for a few of the seats and that is great,” Magnussen told reporters. “It is all very open at the moment, and there is a good chance for the established guys to end up in a seat anywhere.
“I’ve been in the midfield every year that I’ve been in F1. I’m 31 years old and I’m starting to think that if I finished my motorsport career having just done F1 in the midfield, that would feel empty.
“I watch Le Mans or the Indy 500 and see some of the guys that win, they look bloody happy and I think there’s a career outside of Formula 1.
“I’ve been part of it a few times when I’ve not been in Formula 1, it is a great life and it is pulling a little bit.”
There is also questions about Daniel Ricciardo’s future with Red Bull’s sister team RB, with the Australian responding Thursday to Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko’s comments that Liam Lawson should be elevated once Ricciardo’s contract expires at the end of this season.
“I’ve become really good at not reading things,” Ricciardo said. “I actually didn’t know about it until I was told when I got here. Look, I don’t feel one way or another about it. I still know that the overriding thing in this sport is performance, and that’s it. That’s what will give me my best chance of staying here, I know that. It’s not going to be my smile or anything else. It’s the on-track stuff.”
Ricciardo arrived in Austria coming off consecutive races in which he has finished ahead of teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
–Field Level Media
