New drivers at Ferrari? Drivers who could move this F1 offseason

This off-season in Formula 1 may well be one of the most interesting in recent history, with seats potentially opening up all across the grid. Here are 6 drivers who may find themselves moving in the world of open-wheel racing come season's end.

Likely to move:

Sergio Perez


Sergio Perez is quickly becoming a veteran of the sport, with more experience than 10 of the 20 drivers on the grid. But, at only 27 years of age, Perez is still to enter the prime of his career, with another 10 years left at the highest level. In his 6 year career in F1 so far, Perez has 7 podium finishes, despite running in mid-pack cars the entire time, from the 2012 Sauber to the Force India cars of recent years. After his performance in the 2012 season, finishing on the podium three times in a Sauber car lacking consistent pace, Perez got what everybody presumed would be his jump into the big time, with a contract at McLaren-Mercedes for 2013. McLaren were still very much in their prime in 2012, with 7 wins in the 20 race championship, and both drivers finishing in the top 5 for the Driver’s Championship. But 2013 proved to be the beginning of McLaren’s monumental drop-off, falling to 5th in the driver’s championship, and failing to gain a single podium. This saw Perez finish in 11th, his lowest WDC place outside of his rookie year. McLaren and Perez parted company at season’s end, and he jumped back to Force India, where he has continued to grow as a driver, with podiums every season and a gradual rise up to a career high 7th place in the WDC in 2016. The question remains, is he finally ready for a seat at the top of Formula 1? With a seat at Ferrari possibly opening up at season’s end, he may well be the prime candidate.

Pascal Wehrlein


The 22-year-old German is the biggest face of Mercedes’ youth driver programme, leading the line for Mercedes’ future generation, alongside Esteban Ocon. Wehrlein had a strong career as a young driver, before entering Formula 1, winning the ADAC Masters championship at only 17 years of age. In the ensuing years, Wehrlein struggled to truly settle in any series but proceeded to act as Mercedes test driver in 2014. However, in his first full-time season of DTM, Wehrlein swept to the championship, storming ahead of veteran drivers like Jamie Green and Mattias Ekstrom. This championship helped put his name on the map, with Mercedes negotiating a deal to get him in a Manor-Mercedes for the 2016 F1 season. However, the car was painfully slow, falling away from the pack in nearly every race. Wehrlein managed one miraculous result, getting a points finish in the car in Austria, able to run ahead of 5 other finishers. This was enough for a move to Sauber the following year, where he has racked up 4 points, despite missing 2 races this season. This is massively outperforming his teammate Marcus Ericsson, who is yet to score, and continues to show upward development from the young driver. Mercedes will be looking for another step up for their young driver, be it at Force India, or at a newly Mercedes-powered McLaren team.

Could move:

Charles Leclerc


Leclerc is one of 7 drivers in the Ferrari Driver Academy – a system which has produced F1 drivers such as Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll – and may also be the driver with the most impressive feeder record. Leclerc started his career with a 2nd place finish in Formula Renault 2.0, before making the step up to Formula 3, where he finished 4th, behind talents such as Felix Rosenqvist and Antonio Giovinazzi, both highly rated drivers with more experience. Leclerc followed this up with another promotion, to GP3, where he ran away with the 2016 driver’s championship, finishing 25 points ahead of his nearest competitor. At this point, Leclerc was still only just 19 years old. This season, he has run the first 6 stages of the Formula 2 championship, and sits 3 points ahead, despite retiring twice in his home GPs. There is no doubt Leclerc has talent, and Ferrari will be seeking a Formula 1 seat for him to develop that in.

Romain Grosjean


Grosjean will be reaching the end of his 2-year deal at Haas by season’s end, and, although successful for a brand-new team like Haas, Grosjean could be looking for a better drive, in the hopes of finally fulfilling his potential. Back in the 2012 and 2013 seasons, Grosjean served as the teammate to Kimi Raikkonen at Lotus and helped the team to 2 consecutive 4th place finishes in the Constructor’s Championship.  Along the way, Grosjean collected 9 podiums, but never managed a win. In 2014, Lotus began to slide down the grid, and his only podium since came through tire problems for Vettel in Spa 2015. The switch to Haas hasn’t seen an upswing for Grosjean either, and his highest finish was 5th, in his second race for the team. While everyone knows what Grosjean can do, will there be a seat available for him to show it? Could he move up to Ferrari to replace his former teammate, or will he be forced to stay at a midpack team?

Long shot to move:

Robert Kubica


Kubica is the only former driver on this list. Originally driving in F1 from 2006 to 2010, Kubica is one of Formula One’s what if stories. In his 4 and a half seasons racing in Formula 1, the Pole managed to get 12 podiums, and even win the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix, only a year after a horror crash at the same track, which took him out of action for the next race. In the 2008 season, Kubica even finished 4th in the WDC, tied on points with 3rd placed Kimi Raikkonen. However, before he could race for Renault in 2011, Kubica was involved in a crash during a rally event – which he took part in as a hobby. He suffered major injuries to his arm, and fractures along his arms and leg. He underwent a seven-hour operation to work on his forearm, and the outlook was bleak for his F1 future. However, he ran his first rally since the crash in 2012, and has since run in 4 WRC seasons, and won the 2013 WRC-2 championship. Overall, Kubica won 14 stages in WRC, but the biggest news only came a few weeks ago, when he ran a test for the Renault team. Running 115 laps for the team, reports say he ran faster than youth prospect Sergey Sirotkin. This test may tempt teams to look deeper into Kubica, but his arm may still remain a concern in the long-term, due to the physical stress of driving a modern F1 car. Nevertheless, at 32, the Pole has plenty to offer Formula 1 and a needy team.

Nobuharu Matsushita



Okay, this is definitely the most outlandish. The 23-year-old Japanese driver hasn’t had an astonishing junior career to this point, only winning junior series in his home nation. In fact, over three years in a mediocre GP2, he has only collected 3 wins and has finished behind middling talents such as Artem Markelov, and Norman Nato. But, rather than his pure driving talent, Matsushita offers something else very specific – he can be the Japanese face for Honda’s F1 ventures. With rumours for Honda being replaced at McLaren and generally higher standards for the team, Sauber may find themselves as a landing place for Matsushita, to help please their new engine suppliers. Of course, there is no real confirmation that Honda wants a Japanese driver in F1, but if rumours are true, Matsushita is the only plausible candidate.

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