There are still five teams - AlphaTauri, Alpine, Alfa Romeo, Haas and Williams - still to be officially announced in Formula 1 in 2023, as well as McLaren's definition of Daniel Ricciardo's future
Pierre Gasly has finally been confirmed for another season with AlphaTauri in F1 next year, and the Frenchman's renewal with the Italian team has sealed another seat in the hotly contested race for a team in 2023. Five teams have yet to fully confirm their driver line-ups for next year, which opens up speculation about another six spots for next season.
The main one is Williams, which simply has no drivers under contract for next year. With Alexander Albon and Nicholas Latifi competing this season, the British team has seen the Thai driver linked to Red Bull pleasing with the worst car on the grid at the moment, but they are also facing repeated accidents and few results from the Canadian.
So, as much as a spot for Albon on next year's grid is very likely, so is Latifi's departure. The most talked about drivers to replace the Canadian are Nyck de Vries, linked to Mercedes - and who has already been put to practice with the FW44 in the Spanish GP - and Oscar Piastri, in case he doesn't get a place at Alpine - with which he has a contract.
As for the French team, only one thing is certain: Esteban Ocon has a contract until the end of 2024 and will stay on next year. The other spot, which currently belongs to Fernando Alonso, is still uncertain: which will be the team's choice, the Spaniard's experience or Piastri's youth, a champion of everything he has competed in the last few years? A question with an answer yet to be defined, especially depending on the performance of the two-time champion in 2022.
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AlphaTauri itself, which now has Gasly under contract until the end of next year, does not yet have a confirmation on who will be the Frenchman's teammate. Yuki Tsunoda will see his contract with the team expire later this year and is not yet guaranteed to remain with the team next year - Red Bull has a few F2 drivers lined up, such as Liam Lawson and Jehan Daruvala.
The 2022 Alfa Romeo rookie, Valtteri Bottas, has signed a multi-year contract with the team - for an undisclosed duration - and is confirmed to be on the grid next year by the team. The same cannot be said for Guanyu Zhou, who also debuts this year - not only with the team from Hinwil, but in F1 itself - but has signed a contract valid for just one season.
Finally, Haas. With the departure of Nikita Mazepin at the beginning of the year, the American team went after Kevin Magnussen and also closed a multi-year deal with the Dane, who is assured a place in the team for 2023. Mick Schumacher, however, is in a different situation.
The German is entering his last year of contract with the team this year, and the long-dreamed-of jump to Ferrari gives no indication that it will happen at the moment. Schumacher has experienced some problems - mainly with accidents - in the F1, and the fact that his future is always speculated in the team that made history with his father doesn't help the pilot. The rise in performance in F1 hasn't happened yet, which makes his future for next year an unknown factor.
It is worth noting, however, that Haas still has a technical partnership agreement with Ferrari, which may influence the German's future within Formula 1. The American team's intention was to make Schumacher gain experience at Haas in order to take a seat in the Italian team, but Mick has not yet shown to have the quality to do so, and the Scuderia's starting duo has been pleasing.
Speaking of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, both have contracts until the end of 2024. Thus, they do not fear for their places and the team duo will remain the same for next year. The same can be said of the other two 'iron trio' teams - Mercedes and Red Bull - which have tight ties to their duos.
The German team has Lewis Hamilton under contract until the end of 2023, which guarantees another year of the seven-time F1 champion - but will also require a new round of talks should the Briton choose to stay longer in the category. On the other hand, George Russell has signed a multi-year deal and is also guaranteed a place in the team.
Red Bull recently renewed Sergio Perez's contract until the end of 2024, after the Mexican did a good job in his debut year in 2021 and continued his good work in 2022. It was even this move that ultimately caused Gasly to stay at AlphaTauri - the Frenchman was still dreaming of a new chance at the top team. Max Verstappen, 'darling' of the Taurinos and current world champion, is not threatened and has the longest contract on the grid - among those released - with a contract until 2028.
Aston Martin is also not expected to change its driver duo for next year, as Sebastian Vettel still has a contract until the end of 2023 - there is speculation, however, as to whether the German would be willing to remain in F1 for another season. On the other hand, Lawrence Stroll has given no indication that he has changed his plans to put his son Lance in an F1 car, and the Canadian will enter another year as a driver for the team.
Finally, McLaren: the team's two drivers, despite having contact, live a completely different situation. While Lando Norris - with a contract until 2025 - is completely satisfied and will continue next year, Daniel Ricciardo has become a headache for the Woking team.
The Australian has a contract until the end of next year, but the results since his arrival have not pleased the team - which is openly talking about changing the driver for next year, in speculations involving Colton Herta and Pato O'Ward, both linked to the orange team at Indy and mentioned by CEO Zak Brown as options for 2023.