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Red Bull Racing driver Sergio Perez. Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Five Formula One drivers competing for their futures in 2024

By Alyssa Clang | Last updated 2/27/24

The 2024 Formula One season begins Saturday in Bahrain in what looks to be a season of change for the sport. Twelve of the 20 drivers on the F1 grid will see their contracts expire at the end of the season.

With a promising cadre of youth prospects available in F2, there's a chance several could see their F1 careers end at the end of the season.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was the season's first casualty. He'll lose his seat in 2024 to Lewis Hamilton, but Sainz isn't the only driver at risk. Here are five more who are driving for their careers this season:

Sergio Perez | Red Bull

Red Bull was dominant in 2023, racking up 21 wins in 22 races, but poor Perez was only responsible for two of them. The veteran Mexican driver was thoroughly out-driven by his teammate, Max Verstappen.

If preseason testing is anything to go by, Perez looks to have fallen even further behind Verstappen this season. But it isn't just Verstappen that Perez needs to worry about.

Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo, drivers for Red Bull's sister team, VCARB, are eligible for mid-season promotions. If Perez fails to keep up with his world champion teammate, he might lose his seat to one of them before the season is finished.

Red Bull has precedence making these kinds of moves. Pierre Gasly and Nyck de Vries both suffered midseason firings from the Austrian team.

| Max Verstappen was 6 to 7 tenths faster than Sergio Perez on average during testing.

"Perez needs to get Max out of his head and drive his own program," says Helmut Marko.#F1 pic.twitter.com/FCevikqprl
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) February 24, 2024

Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon | Alpine

Alpine is rebuilding under team principal Bruno Famin, but both of its drivers are out of contract at the end of the season. The French team much choose which one it intends to build around in 2025 and beyond.

Will it choose Gasly, the underrated French driver from Red Bull? Or Ocon, its longtime servant? Gasly impressed in his rookie season with Alpine, clinching two podiums and soundly beating his more experienced teammate.

Gasly, however, has a checkered F1 history, one that includes an ignominious demotion at Red Bull and a few burned bridges. Ocon, for his part, has been loyal to Alpine and performed admirably against legendary teammate Fernando Alonso in previous seasons. However, he struggled against Gasly last season and has built a reputation for aggression in races.

Could Alpine choose neither? The Alpine 2024 car looks sluggish, and many pundits predict it could be the worst of the lot. With nothing left to lose for 2025, Alpine could opt for a clean rebuild and drop Gasly and Ocon.

| The new Alpine A524 is currently the worst car on the grid.

It’s overweight, aerodynamically inefficient, slow on a single lap and in long runs.

High-ranking engineers are said to be already on their way out.#F1 pic.twitter.com/UNmsVCOxZk
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) February 24, 2024

Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu | Stake F1

Stake F1 — formerly known as Alfa Romeo — was anonymous in 2023, with neither Bottas nor Zhou delivering any memorable performances. With one rebrand under its belt and another on the horizon (Stake will soon become Audi), the team has much to consider when it comes to its driver lineup.

Rumors abound that Audi will want a German driver once it takes over; neither Bottas nor Zhou fit that bill. Assuming that one of Stake's two spots will be given to someone from Germany, will Bottas or Zhou be considered for the remaining place?

With drivers such as Sainz available, it's hard to see Stake sticking by its underperforming drivers. And with neither carrying a high profile — Bottas is 34 and Zhou failed to impress in his rookie season — it's hard to see them finding homes elsewhere on the grid. No one in F1 should feel more at risk than these two.

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