F1 2026, Monaco Grand Prix: 2027 contract state of play as silly season begins in Europe, Max Verstappen future, Oscar Piastri to Red Bull rumours

This weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, the first race of the European leg of the season, will fire the starting gun on what could be the most explosive Formula 1 silly season in years.

Almost every driver has positioned themselves to have maximum flexibility coinciding with the biggest rule changes in Formula 1 history, and it’s not by accident — only when rubber hit the road this year would they know which teams had nailed the new rules and which had failed to master them.

Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship™ LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.

With the development race expected to be conducted at a ferocious pace, we still don’t have all the answers — but we will as the sport progresses through its classic European grands prix, which are exclusively live on Fox Sports.

It’s armed with that knowledge that drivers and teams will roll the dice on sticking or twisting for 2027.

This year’s silly season is far more widely open than most. Almost every driver is out of contract.

Only McLarens stars Lando Norris (2027) and Oscar Piastri (2028), Cadillac’s Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas (2027), and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly (2028) are under contract.

Every European F1 Race Exclusively live on Fox Sports. Available on Kayo Sports.

That means as many as 17 drivers are in the gun, though there are some caveats on that number.

Long gone are the days of teams announcing contract durations as a matter of course. Most now declare a driver has signed on a “multi-year” contract.

Without clarifying information, the below list assumes that means two seasons, which is usually the case.

Drivers out of contract in 2026

Mercedes: George Russell, Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Ferrari: Lewis Hamilton

McLaren: none

Red Bull Racing: Isack Hadjar

Alpine: Franco Colapinto

Racing Bulls: Liam Lawson, Arvid Lindblad

Haas: Esteban Ocon, Oliver Bearman

Williams: Alex Albon, Carlos Sainz

Audi: Nico Hülkenberg, Gabriel Bortoleto

Cadillac: none

Aston Martin: Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll

Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari increasingly hint that their contract lasts three seasons, with or without options at the end of this year. Whatever the case, another poor season like 2025 will have questions asked about his future — though the seven-time champion has looked punchier so far.

Lance Stroll races at the pleasure of his father, team owner Lawrence Stroll, and is unlikely to be under any real threat even if he continues being comprehensively belted by teammate Fernando Alonso.

But then there are also drivers who are under contract but are known or are believed to have exit clauses that could be triggered this season.

Drivers with reported exit clauses

Ferrari: Charles Leclerc (contracted until 2029)

Red Bull Racing: Max Verstappen (contracted until 2028)

That brings us to 17 drivers, or 77 per cent of the grid.

With so much potential movement, whoever moves first could be at a massive advantage.

But there’ll also be a reticence to move early given there could be seats available far up the grid.

KEY SEAT: MAX VERSTAPPEN

Max Verstappen has explicitly tied his position to the sport changing its regulations next year, an in-principle agreement for which appears to have foundered over several political sticking points.

“If it stays like this, it’s going to be a long year next year, which I don’t want,” he said. “It’s just mentally not doable for me to stay like this. It’s really not.”

There are two deadlines at play.

Changes to the 2027 rules have to be agreed as soon as possible given the long lead times required to develop new engines. We should have an answer this month, probably within weeks, on whether agreement has been reached.

The second deadline is contractual. It’s been widely reported that Verstappen will be free to exit his contract if he’s outside the top two in the drivers championship at the middle of the season. He’s currently seventh in the standings and 43 points off second place.

Of course if he decided to quit Formula 1, his contract would likely be little impediment. It would only be if he were changing teams that Red Bull Racing would likely pursue any right to keep him.

This is an interesting additional element.

Speaking to De Telegraaf before the Canadian Grand Prix — and before it was clear the agreement to change the rules was collapsing — he suggested that his F1 future may not be tied to Red Bull Racing.

“I’m in no rush,” he said. “Ideally I’d like to stay associated with Red Bull for the rest of my life; I’ve always said that.

“But making that decision doesn’t have to happen today or tomorrow. Whether it’s here or somewhere else, there’s much more involved than just the Formula 1 contract.

“I’m talking about all the other projects as well. I’m in talks with Red Bull about those too. I’m very relaxed about it myself. We shouldn’t make it too dramatic.

“Even if it all comes to nothing, that’s fine with me. That’s my attitude towards life.”

Red Bull Racing boss Laurent Mekies hosed down the risk of a Verstappen exit.

“Max is telling us he’s happy at Red Bull,” he said. “He is involved in every strategic decision we are making. He is at the heart of the project.

“He is pushing with us, and we both want the same thing: getting back to a more competitive package, and he is central to that.”

But whether it’s over the rules or over his team’s level of competitiveness, Verstappen is the most interesting and significant part of the silly season, with other moves hanging on his critical call.

AT RISK: ESTEBAN OCON

“We expected more from him.”

That was Haas boss Ayao Komatsu’s sobering assessment of Esteban Ocon before the 2026 season had even started.

He was reflecting on a 2025 campaign during which the French race winner was gradually overpowered and then regularly beaten by rookie teammate Oliver Bearman.

That trend has accelerated in 2026.

Esteban Ocon vs Oliver Bearman, 2026 to date

Qualifying head to head: Bearman leads 4-1

Qualifying differential: Bearman ahead by 0.2 places

Time differential: Bearman faster by 0.235 seconds

Race head to head: Bearman leads 4-0

Race differential: Bearman ahead by 4.8 places

Points: Bearman leads 18-1

Ocon’s relatively lacklustre form was enough to speak some wild and unfounded rumours about a rift between Ocon and Komatsu. While they were strenuously rebuffed, there’s no denying that Ocon is under the pump to find form.

That could be good news for Aussie hopeful Jack Doohan, the team’s reserve driver.

Doohan was turfed from his Alpine seat six races into 2025 and has jumped to Haas this year in a bid to get back onto the grid while race sports cars in Europe.

It was a calculated move. If Bearman isn’t called up to Ferrari, Ocon will be vulnerable.

Doohan isn’t a shoo-in, particularly if Haas continues batting above its weight, which could give it access to some higher calibre established drivers. But he would certainly be in the mix.

WINNER TAKES IT ALL: GEORGE RUSSELL

Nominally both George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli are on long term deals, but the team announced last year only that they would race in 2027, suggesting options would take them into the years beyond.

Russell at least has been open about winning performance clauses on his side. Wanting no repeat of his team’s flirtations with Verstappen last year, he’s suggested that so long as he’s delivering certain results this year, he’ll be automatically extended.

Where an Antonelli championship would put him, on the other hand, is another question.

The Mercedes dynamic is fascinating, with Russell having long been anointed the team’s next in line but Antonelli threatening to jump the queue. Not only that, but Mercedes boss Toro Wolff believes the Italian teenager is the sport’s next generational talent.

Considering how good he looks in just his second season, Wolff looks spot on.

It’s highly likely one of the Mercedes drivers will win the championship this year. If it’s Antonelli, and if we assume he’s going to keep getting better, will Russell see a future for himself at the team?

It’s hard to imagine him decamping for anywhere else given Mercedes’s form. But then again, if Red Bull Racing had an opening for a number one driver, could it be totally discounted?

BUYER’S REMORSE: CARLOS SAINZ

‘Buyer’s remorse’ might be harsh, but you have to wonder what Carlos Sainz has been thinking during Williams’s sluggish start to the season after a disastrous off-season culminated in the late delivery of an overweight and uncompetitive car.

Sainz has the pedigree to warrant a more competitive season. If Williams were to continue to wallow and if a frontrunning drive were to become available, surely he would contemplate a move.

“[There is] zero doubt in my mind that this is the pairing that I want,” Williams boss James Vowles told the F1 website. “They are aware of it.

“You will always get silly season but it’s in our hands both today and in the next five years to demonstrate we have ability to put performance on the car that outstrips other teams and therefore earn their right to be here.

“What we have always said is 28 is one of our big milestones, 2030 the second of those two milestones – and championships towards 2030. It doesn’t change that direction of travel.”

Earlier, in Canada, Vowles insisted that both Sainz and Alex Albon “want to be part of this journey”.

Williams has made the biggest improvement among the midfield so far this season and can still salvage a good result that keeps the faith.

Also on Williams’s side is that frontrunning opening remain hypothetical for now.

But this could be a race against time. The team knows it will need months to take off enough weight to prove the car beneath is competitive. If the silly season moves quickly, that might be too long for Sainz.

A PLUM SEAT: FRANCO COLAPINTO

Distant last in the 2025 championship, Alpine is a clear fifth in this year’s standings with a car quick enough to keep it ahead of the midfield. It’s a dependable Q3 contender and a solid scorer.

Pierre Gasly’s decision to sign a long-term deal last year looks inspired.

But it ramps up the pressure on Franco Colapinto, whose seat is suddenly desirable.

He fumbled scoreless through last year after being parachuted into Doohan’s seat, but he’s been on the money in 2026, particularly since the car was upgraded in Miami, two rounds ago.

“Franco, honestly, I believe he has the talent to be one of the top drivers,” team boss Flavio Briatore said, per The Race.

“For the moment we have Gasly and we have Colapinto. For 2027 we have Gasly because we signed with him long term, and then we see.

“I hope that Franco is doing a very good job from now until the end of the season to continue.”

It’s not unequivocally glowing, but from a taskmaster as harsh as Briatore, it’s certainly something.

But if Alpine can entrench its lofty position and move forwards, there’ll be a bevy of more established stars in less competitive machinery knocking on the door, and Colapinto will have to justify his place.

THE RUMOUR FILE: OSCAR PIASTRI AND VALTTERI BOTTAS

It wouldn’t be silly season without rumours circulating even those who should be under lock and key.

Oscar Piastri’s name was in the headlines between the Miami and Canadian grands prix owing to reports that he was a the top of Red Bull Racing’s lists of possible Verstappen replacements should the Dutchman abandon ship.

It is of course free to write lists and free to populate them with any names you like — particularly at a time McLaren and Red Bull Racing are engaging in a political media skirmish over Gianpiero Lambiase, the latest chapter in their rivalry.

“We are already fully in this silly season,” team boss Andrea Stella said. “When we think about Oscar, we couldn’t be happier.

“I think we are seeing the best Oscar in the cockpit and also a happy Oscar, and the best version of himself outside the cockpit.

“[There are] great dynamics and relationship with Lando, and I think the team is in its strongest shape since I’ve been team principal, so definitely it’s very clear, the direction for maximum stability at McLaren.”

Piastri has denied talks with Red Bull Racing. He’s under contract until the end of 2028.

At the other end of the grid, Valtteri Bottas is under surprisingly early pressure despite holding a two-year contract with the start-up Cadillac team.

Bottas has been comfortably accounted for by teammate Sergio Pérez in their exclusive battle at the back. That’s particularly surprising in qualifying, a traditional strong suit of the Finn, yet it’s Pérez who’s got the team closest to its first Q2 appearance while also holding the upper hand on race pace.

It’s to some extent academic given Cadillac is still establishing itself and both Bottas and Pérez are under contract.

Bottas is also secure knowing Colton Herta, the IndyCar winner racing in Formula 2 to make his F1 dream a reality, doesn’t yet have the superlicence points to replace him anyway — though his former Sauber teammate, Zhou Guanyu, is also in the wings, albeit somewhat less compellingly.

But it’s a reminder that while Bottas and Pérez’s experience was understandably much sought after by the brand-new team, it won’t need two veterans in the medium term. In 2029 it will likely feel ready to inject some youthful performance into the mix, particularly if either of its incumbents is underperforming.

There’s a long, long way to go before the team gets to that point, but Bottas will know the clock is ticking.