Formula 1 awaiting key confirmation for 2024 season

Just one team enters the offseason between the 2023 and 2024 Formula 1 seasons without a confirmed driver lineup for next year.

The 2023 Formula 1 season came to an end on Sunday with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit, with three-time reigning world champion Max Verstappen winning a record 19th race of the year to wrap up the 22-race campaign.

Nine of the sport’s 10 teams have already solidified their driver lineups for the record-breaking 24-race 2024 season, and no changes have been made to any of their lineups — even amid made-up rumors about Red Bull moving on from Sergio Perez that have been non-stop since about May.

The only change made at any of those nine teams since the start of the 2023 season came at AlphaTauri, where Daniel Ricciardo replaced the struggling rookie Nyck de Vries after just 10 races.

One team still needs to solidify their driver lineup for the 2024 Formula 1 season.

While Alex Albon’s stay at Williams has long been confirmed, that is not the case for rookie teammate Logan Sargeant. Sargeant struggled throughout his rookie season and found himself atop the unofficial “world destructor championship”, having accounted for the most crash damage out of any driver.

Given how many points Albon scored compared to his teammate, it became clear that Sargeant was hindering their overall progression in the constructor championship, even though they still ended up taking what was available with a P7 finish, their best since 2017.

With several young drivers, including Ricciardo injury substitute Liam Lawson, waiting for their opportunity to compete in Formula 1, there has long been speculation that the Grove-based team could move on from Sargeant after just one year.

But even amid Sargeant’s roughest stretch, team principal James Vowles continued to voice his support for the 22-year-old American, and a late-season point-scoring effort at Circuit of the Americas, plus two late-season Q3 appearances at Zandvoort and Las Vegas, may have solidified his stay for at least another year.

Should Sargeant return to Williams in 2024, next year’s driver lineup will not look any different from this year’s, and that is what all signs point to.

The 2024 Formula 1 season is scheduled to get underway on Sunday, March 2 at Bahrain International Circuit with the Bahrain Grand Prix.