Formula 1: What remains unknown about the 2021 driver lineup

While many of the seats on the 2021 Formula 1 grid have been secured, there are still several things we don’t know about the driver lineup.

While not much was known about the 2021 Formula 1 driver when the 2019 season ended, many of the seats in next year’s lineup have since been solidified leading up to and during the 2020 campaign. In total, 16 of 20 seats have confirmed drivers for next year.

The 16 confirmed drivers on next year’s grid represent all 10 of the sport’s teams, as none of the teams still have two empty seats.

Four teams still have one seat to fill, while six have completely solidified their driver lineups.

So what do we still not know about the 2021 Formula 1 driver lineup?

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The four teams that still need to confirm the final seat in their driver lineup for next year are Mercedes, Red Bull, AlphaTauri and Haas.

At Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas has already signed a one-year contract extension to return to the team for a fifth year in the 2021 season, but Lewis Hamilton, who has won the last four and six of the last seven world championships for the team and has driven for them since 2013, still has not yet signed a contract to return to the team for what would be a ninth year in 2021.

Max Verstappen is already under contract with Red Bull through the 2023 season after signing a multi-year extension before the 2020 season began, but Alexander Albon, who replaced Pierre Gasly at Red Bull during the 2019 season, does not have a deal to return for the 2021 season.

Will that change, or will Red Bull hire somebody such as veteran Nico Hulkenberg or veteran Sergio Perez to take his place?

At AlphaTauri, the Red Bull sister team, Gasly, who ended up replacing Albon at the team in 2019 when Red Bull made the aforementioned driver swap, recently signed an extension to return in 2021, but his teammate has not been confirmed.

Daniil Kvyat, who returned to AlphaTauri last year after being fired in 2017, currently competes for the team, but there are rumors that Red Bull junior driver and current Formula 2 driver Yuki Tsunoda will be promoted.

Finally, at Haas, both Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen are out. Formula 2 driver Nikita Mazepin has signed a multi-year contract, but his teammate has not been confirmed. Fellow Formula 2 driver Mick Schumacher is expected to get the promotion.

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The Australian Grand Prix, which was not run in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, is scheduled to open up the 2021 Formula 1 season on Sunday, March 21 at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit. The 2020 season has two races remaining, one this Sunday, December 6 and another one next Sunday, December 13.

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