Eleven seats down, eleven to go. Formula 1’s 2027 grid is slowly assembling itself like a jigsaw puzzle where nobody can find the box lid, and while Franco Colapinto‘s retention at Alpine grabbed the headlines this week, it’s actually the bigger picture that deserves scrutiny. Because for every driver ticking off a done deal, there are still more sitting in limbo, sweating through a silly season that shows no sign of calming down.
Alpine confirmed Colapinto’s continuation alongside Pierre Gasly earlier this week, closing the book on what was once a genuine question mark over his future. That story has already been told. The more interesting question now is what it tells us about the rest of the grid, and just how much of 2027 is still genuinely up for grabs.
The Locked-In Eleven
Start with what we actually know. McLaren and Ferrari are keeping their line-ups fully intact, which given how both teams are performing this season should surprise absolutely nobody. Max Verstappen, after months of speculation that occasionally bordered on tedious, has signed fresh terms with Red Bull running through to the end of 2030. Given the questions still swirling around the strength of that contract, as previously reported, “locked in” might be doing some heavy lifting there, but on paper at least, the four-time champion isn’t going anywhere.
Williams wrapped up its business just days ago too, with Alexander Albon putting pen to paper on a one-year extension before Carlos Sainz followed a day later with a multi-year commitment. Over at Cadillac, Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas are both staying put as the American entrant tries to build something resembling momentum in its second year on the grid, a task that looks harder by the week given Perez’s own recent admission that development has stalled.
And then there’s Colapinto himself. The Argentinian’s new deal with Alpine means he stays alongside Gasly for a second full season, a reward for a year in which he clearly outgrew the shaky version of himself from 2025. He added 19 points to Gasly’s tally of 44, took a career-best sixth in Montreal, and currently sits 12th in the standings. Progress, undeniably. Title-winning form, not remotely.
Briatore’s Big Talk
Flavio Briatore, never a man short of a soundbite, wasted no time framing the Colapinto renewal as part of some grander vision. Speaking after the announcement, as reported by Autosport, Briatore didn’t hold back on the ambition front.
“We are now settled from a driver point of view and I have said many times that, while this is an important piece of the puzzle, the most significant we have to get right is designing and building a fast race car which absolutely remains our number one priority.” – Flavio Briatore
He went further still, insisting the team would push “relentlessly” until it’s “fighting, and winning, at the front end of this sport.” Bold words from a team currently sitting sixth in the constructors’ table with 63 points, some 123 behind fourth-placed Red Bull. Consistency in the driver line-up is one thing. Turning that into actual competitiveness is quite another, and Briatore knows it better than anyone, hence the not-so-subtle admission that the car remains priority number one.
Colapinto, for his part, sounded rather more measured than his boss. He described feeling “very happy and very settled” at the team, and pointed to the progress made compared with the previous year. No talk of winning at the front just yet, which feels like the more honest assessment of where Alpine actually stands.
The Eleven Still Hanging
Here’s where it gets genuinely interesting. With eleven drivers accounted for, that leaves eleven seats across the grid still unresolved heading into 2027. Mercedes hasn’t officially announced anything yet, even though it’s widely assumed that Kimi Antonelli and George Russell will simply carry on, not least because Antonelli currently leads the entire drivers’ championship on 242 points. Announcing the obvious apparently isn’t a priority when you’re busy running away with the title.
Beyond that, the picture turns properly murky. Haas has been dragging its feet on future plans, with team boss Ayao Komatsu offering little beyond a vague “no rush” line that increasingly looks like a team without a clear answer. Yuki Tsunoda, meanwhile, has been openly pleading with rival teams to give him a call after his return with Racing Bulls, a rather undignified position for a driver with his experience to find himself in.
Then there’s the entire back half of the grid still to sort itself out: Audi, Aston Martin, and the remaining Red Bull and Racing Bulls seats beyond Verstappen’s. Liam Lawson‘s recent heroics have earned him little more than a tyre test invite, as covered here recently, hardly the ringing contract endorsement a driver might hope for.
A Puzzle With No Deadline
The truth is that silly season no longer has a fixed calendar. Deals leak out in dribs and drabs, sometimes confirmed by press release, sometimes by accident on social media, and fans are left piecing together the grid months before a ball is actually rolled. Eleven confirmed, eleven to go, and Briatore talking about fighting at the front while his team sits mid-table. Some things about this sport never change.
Whether the remaining eleven seats get resolved with any urgency, or drag on into the winter the way these things usually do, is anyone’s guess. What’s certain is that by the time the checkered flag falls on 2026, plenty of drivers will still be waiting for their phones to ring. Tsunoda isn’t the only one hoping someone, anyone, picks up.
