With just over a third of the 2024 Formula 1 season gone, there are a number of drivers fighting for their futures in the sport. Some of those who have lost their current seats should walk into another team, but things are looking bleak for others.
Carlos Sainz is set to join Williams after Ferrari let him go to sign Lewis Hamilton. That will condemn Logan Sargeant, with Alex Albon already locked into the other seat.
Meanwhile, Martin Brundle believes Esteban Ocon is headed to Haas. The Frenchman has agreed to part ways with Alpine at the end of the season.
By contrast, Daniel Ricciardo still needs to prove that he merits an extension at RB. The Red Bull junior team triggered a renewal clause for teammate Yuki Tsunoda, but they remain undecided on Ricciardo with reserve driver Liam Lawson breathing down his neck.
If RB opt to promote Lawson instead, then it could spell the end of Ricciardo’s F1 career. Elsewhere, Audi have already told Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu that they won’t be retained.
The German giants have signed Nico Hulkenberg ahead of their F1 debut in 2026 and they want another new driver alongside him. Zhou has apparently set his sights on Haas, able to offer them nearly £30m in sponsorship revenue.
Kevin Magnussen may be nearing end of F1 career
Kevin Magnussen probably felt a sense of relief when Hulkenberg agreed to join Audi. Ferrari academy gem Oliver Bearman, due to drive in six FP1 sessions for Haas this year, had been putting pressure on both drivers.
But Hulkenberg’s exit left a clear vacancy for the teenager. Indeed, a report over the Canadian Grand Prix weekend that Bearman had already signed a deal to replace him.
Unfortunately for Magnussen, Haas could still make a wholesale change. According to F1 journalist Joe Saward, ‘there seems to be little chance’ that he finds a place on the 2025 grid at all.
The 31-year-old no doubt damaged his reputation with boss Ayao Komatsu and indeed rival teams by getting involved in a series of incidents at the start of the year. He’s now sitting on 10 penalty points, putting him on the verge of a one-race ban.
Magnussen has been given ‘plenty of chances’ to show his talent. But this year he trails Hulkenberg by seven points to one, and last season the German tripled his tally (nine vs three).
What Jenson Button said about Magnussen at McLaren
Magnussen started his F1 career with McLaren back in 2014 and, remarkably, scored his one and only podium to date on his debut at the Australian Grand Prix. He finished second behind Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg that day, with Red Bull’s Ricciardo disqualified.
It seemed as if the sport’s next great talent had announced himself, but by the end of the season he’d lost his drive. World champion teammate Jenson Button out-scored him by 126 points to 55.
Button did at least offer a glowing appraisal prior to his exit. The Briton told Danish newspaper BT that Magnussen ‘often pushed me to my limits, and even over my limits on many occasions’.
He called him ‘the best driver available’ on the market that year and assured rival teams he could help them ‘succeed in Formula 1’. In the end, Magnussen missed out on a seat and had to settle for a reserve role at McLaren.
He would return to F1 in 2016 with Renault before joining Haas a year later. His first spell at the American outfit lasted four seasons, with Guenther Steiner turning to an all-rookie line-up of Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher for 2021.
When that backfired, Magnussen was back in the car for the 2022 season, and he’s remained there since. But it looks as if his third stint in F1 may well be his last.
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