ebastian Vettel remains the last Formula 1 driver to announce his retirement. The four-time world champion walked away from the sport at the end of 2022 after spending two seasons with Aston Martin.

Daniel Ricciardo may have been retired, rather than making the decision for himself. He lost his RB seat to Liam Lawson three-quarters of the way through the season.

The feeling is that there’s ‘no way back’ for Ricciardo at this stage. Many of his fans were upset that he didn’t receive the kind of ceremonial farewell afforded most successful drivers.

Likewise, Sauber may have taken matters out of Valtteri Bottas’ hands by electing not to hand him a new contract for 2025. Instead, they’ve signed F2 leader Gabriel Bortoleto alongside Nico Hulkenberg.

Bottas is set to return to Mercedes as reserve driver and will hope to be back on the grid in 2026. But his stock seems to have been damaged by Sauber’s scoreless woes this season.

Meanwhile, Red Bull are hoping Sergio Perez retires to offer a clean solution to their driver dilemma. Rather than risking a contract dispute with the Mexican, they could amicably promote Liam Lawson from RB.

Guenther Steiner jokes that Fernando Alonso will race for another 30 years
The oldest driver on the Formula 1 grid is Fernando Alonso, who turned 43 in July. He became the first driver to enter 400 Grands Prix in Mexico last month.

But Alonso isn’t thinking about retiring just yet. Earlier this year, he signed a new multi-year deal with Aston Martin that will keep him on the grid until at least the end of 2026.

The ex-Ferrari and McLaren driver initially hung up his helmet in November 2018. But he returned in 2021 to chase a third world title.

Writing in his book, Unfiltered, former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner quipped that Alonso would continue racing for another three decades. He says that the 32-time race-winner has forced F1 figures to ‘re-evaluate’ career timelines.

“I am sure that when Fernando’s autobiography eventually comes out when he retires again in 2055 we will hear his side of the story,” Steiner wrote. “What I know for sure though is that his comeback has been one of the greatest success stories in recent times and just about everybody has had to take a step back and re-evaluate things.”

Guenther Steiner has huge respect for Fernando Alonso – but he was once furious with him
Steiner is one of many in the F1 paddock who are in awe of Alonso and his longevity. The consensus is that he’d have won more than two titles if he’d made better career decisions.

But there may be some who are privately enjoying his 18-year drought. His combative approach on and off the track – Alonso confronted Liam Lawson in parc ferme at the US GP just last month – has made him many enemies.

While he wrote about him in glowing terms above, he also infuriated Steiner in his McLaren days. Alonso refused to apologise to Esteban Gutierrez, one of Haas’ drivers, after a heavy crash at the 2016 Australian GP.

The arrival of Adrian Newey gives the veteran, who’s scored just 62 points this year, hope of one last title shot. Aston Martin won the race for the legendary designer, with owner Lawrence Stroll investing enormous sums to make the team challengers after the 2026 regulation changes.

Owning a Formula 1 team has become more and more lucrative in recent years with the sport’s popularity booming.

A serious increase in the popularity of F1 coincided with the release of Drive to Survive and with three races in the United States and an ever-expanding calendar encompassing more and more of the world, it’s unlikely to slow down any time soon.

On top of this, joining the Formula 1 circus has become increasingly more difficult.

Andretti believed they would be the 11th team on the grid at the beginning of the year after having an application with the FIA approved.

However, Formula One Management rejected their entry and a new Concorde Agreement could make another entry much more expensive if not impossible.

It means the value of the 10 current teams has increased exponentially and a report from The Race suggests that one manufacturer may look to cash in at some point in the future.

Alpine have just made a game-changing decision for the 2026 season after another indifferent campaign.

When the new regulations are introduced to F1 after the next season, Alpine will begin using Mercedes power units.