F1 News: Carlos Sainz signs for Audi and four other silly season moves

The F1 summer break is often when the next year’s F1 grid begins to shape up, and when rumours surrounding each team’s driver lineup really begin to swirl.

It could be argued that silly season lasts for pretty much the full year these days as rumours and reports about certain drivers being on the move come and go, but this time of year really is when it hits peak frenzy.

Is it the lack of F1 action driving fans and media outlets crazy? Maybe. But it is the time of year when drivers get the time to pause and think about their start to the year, and what they might want for next season.

One driver said to be assessing his options is Carlos Sainz, who has not been happy with his Williams team’s regression in 2026 compared to 2025.

Meanwhile, both Liam Lawson and Esteban Ocon‘s futures beyond the end of this year are up in the air, with both drivers only contracted until the end of the year and under pressure at Racing Bulls and Haas respectively.

And of course, we are all waiting to see what Max Verstappen does next, with his Red Bull exit clause now firmly in play.

Here are five moves which could get announced over the coming months.

F1 Silly Season 2026: Verstappen, Mercedes and every driver move

Four-time grand prix winner Sainz was close to joining Audi – then Sauber – for the 2025 season, knowing that they would be making their transition for 2026.

Sainz’s father Carlos Sainz Senior won the 2024 Dakar Rally with Audi and was keen for his son to join the Hinwil-based F1 outfit after it had been announced that he was being displaced at Ferrari by the arrival of Lewis Hamilton.

He eventually opted to join Williams instead, and performed very well with them in 2025, claiming two grand prix podiums and helping them to a fifth-place constructors’ championship finish. But 2026 has been very different.

Williams have been struggling with an overweight, underperforming chassis in 2026 despite team principal James Vowles having said in 2024 and 2025 that all their eggs were going in the 2026 basket with the wholesale regulation changes that swept into the sport.

The team are currently down in ninth in the constructors’ championship with just 11 points from the opening 11 grand prix weekends, and Sainz has been getting frustrated by the lack of progress.

He is said to be ‘evaluating’ his options for 2027, and a move to Audi at last would not be a surprise.

Could two-time world champion Fernando Alonso team up with old boss Flavio Briatore again for one last hoorah in F1?

Alonso is currently deciding on whether to renew his contract for 2027 with Aston Martin, retire from the sport altogether given he is now 45 years of age, or attempt one last team switch in the hope of challenging for a podium or two before his career ends.

Briatore was previously the boss of Alonso when the Spaniard claimed his two world championship titles in 2005 and 2006 at Renault.

He is now back at the Enstone-based outfit in an advisory role, and is trying to oversee the team getting back to the very top of F1.

While Briatore is seemingly happy with his current drivers Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto, that has not stopped the rumours regarding a potential swoop for Alonso.

One driver who is most definitely under pressure to keep their seat in F1 is Ocon. The Frenchman finished behind team-mate Oliver Bearman in the drivers’ championship last year, despite the young Brit being in his rookie season. He is once trailing in 2026.

Ocon is due to be out of contract at the end of this year, and will need to prove his worth to the team in order to be handed an 11th season in F1.

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu said that ‘nobody was satisfied’ with Ocon’s performance in 2025, and it remains to be seen whether or not he will be given a contract extension with the team.

It is understood that Haas are interested in former F1 racer Yuki Tsunoda, who was axed from a full-time Red Bull seat at the end of 2025, as well as young drivers Leonardo Fornaroli and Rafael Camara.

Tsunoda raced for five full seasons in F1, most of them with Red Bull’s sister team, although he did compete in 22 grands prix for Red Bull last season before being axed entirely.

Haas’ new partnership with Japanese car manufacturer Toyota is cited as a reason for their interest in Tsunoda, with there being a desire to get the Japanese racer back onto the grid.

Haas’ relationship with Ferrari, however, could cause them to take a gamble on young Ferrari academy racer Camara instead, to sit alongside a now experienced Bearman.

Nico Hulkenberg to Aston Martin

Having been displaced by Sainz’s move to Audi, the veteran racer Hulkenberg would be looking for a seat with another team.

Of course, if Alonso has moved on from Aston Martin, then a seat will open up for an experienced racer there to sit alongside Lawrence Stroll’s son Lance for the 2027 season.

Hulkenberg has not lost any of his pace, despite now being 38 years of age, and last season had arguably his best ever year in the sport. He’s found it tougher going in 2026, but he and highly promising team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto have been pretty evenly matched across the first half of the season.

German veteran Hulkenberg previously raced with Aston Martin as the team’s reserve driver in 2020 and 2022, racing four grands prix across that period due to absences.

He also previously raced full-time with the Silverstone-based outfit when they were known as Force India, way back in 2012, and then again between 2014-2016.

Nikola Tsolov to Racing Bulls

Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane admitted recently that F2 star Nikola Tsolov is a consideration for a seat next year, with both Lawson and Arvid Lindblad currently not contracted beyond the end of this season.

Lawson is arguably becoming too experienced to be taking up a seat with the junior Red Bull team at 24 years of age, and that has led to rumours surrounding his future, despite the fact he has performed well in 2026.

The 19-year-old Tsolov is said to be the ‘next in line’ at Red Bull, and is currently performing to a high level in F2.

The young Bulgarian is currently leading the F2 drivers’ standings after taking six wins already in 2026, and that follows a 2025 season in which he finished runner-up in the F3 championship.

If Racing Bulls opt against giving Lawson another year, then expect to see Tsolov on the grid in 2027.

MID-SEASON REPORT: Hamilton and Antonelli are sliding, here come Norris and McLaren

F1 DRIVER SALARIES: F1 driver salaries: What stars including Hamilton and Verstappen earn

Related