The past 12 months turned out to be one of the most chaotic driver markets in the history of Formula 1.
The 2025 F1 grid sees 10 changes compared to how the teams lined up at the Bahrain Grand Prix at the beginning of this year, with four drivers set to take part in the Australian Grand Prix with just a single race between them.
Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari set off an unexpected chain reaction that impacted nearly every team in the paddock.
Only McLaren and Aston Martin have retained both of their drivers, with two all-new line-ups at Haas and Sauber.
While next year should see the market settle down ahead of F1’s changing ruleset in 2026, the number of established F1 drivers who fell off the grid this winter looking for a way back in means that pressure will quickly increase on anyone underperforming.
Below, we’ve listed three drivers who will need to be on their A-game immediately to avoid speculation growing about their futures in the sport.
Alex Albon
At the start of last year, it would be unthinkable that Alex Albon would be under any sort of pressure.
The Thai driver has 240 points to his name during his F1 career and Martin Brundle described Albon as ‘brilliant’ last season.
However, mistakes started to creep into Albon’s performances as 2024 went on.
He suffered a huge crash in Australia that saw Logan Sargeant give up his chassis for him to take part in the race, before colliding with Daniel Ricciardo in Japan at the next race weekend.
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The arrival of Franco Colapinto also highlighted just how poor Albon’s previous teammates had been in comparison to the Argentine rookie.
Carlos Sainz has already impressed at Williams during a post-season test and he’ll be Albon’s toughest teammate since his days alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull.
If Albon struggles, the lure of bringing Colapinto back onto the grid with his vast sponsorship deals may appeal to Williams, particularly if they have more crash damage to pay for.
Jack Doohan
To include Jack Doohan on this list after just a single Formula 1 race will seem very harsh.
The Australian was thrust into Esteban Ocon’s Alpine for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and after qualifying last, he came home in P15.
Jolyon Palmer described Doohan’s debut as ‘difficult’ and speculation about his future has already started.
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Flavio Briatore appears to be in charge of driver decisions at Alpine and has his eye on one unsigned talent for 2025.
Alpine have been linked with Colapinto for some time and his availability at Williams may concern Doohan.
It’s also been said that Doohan only has a race contract for five Grand Prix, which would make a switch relatively straightforward.
Isack Hadjar
While including Doohan in this list may seem harsh, Isack Hadjar’s appearance may seem even more absurd.
Hadjar was only announced as a Racing Bulls driver in the past few days after Liam Lawson’s graduation to Red Bull.
However, Hadjar’s promotion comes as a result of being the next in line in the Red Bull academy, rather than standing out with elite performances even if he did finish second in F2 in 2024.
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Hadjar’s brief F1 tests have been mixed and his temperament may be an issue if Red Bull have a problem with Yuki Tsunoda’s radio outbursts.
Christian Horner is also very excited about Arvid Lindblad, and if Hadjar doesn’t get up to speed quickly, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the young Brit given an early promotion in the same style Max Verstappen was all those years ago.
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