Having initially been listed as team-mate to Max Verstappen at Red Bull, Sergio Perez will take a sabbatical from the F1 grid next season.

Following a horrid season in F1 2024 that saw him amass barely a third of the points of his championship-winning teammate, the Mexican has been replaced by Liam Lawson.

Lawson’s promotion created room at Racing Bulls, though its second seat had been listed as TBC on the official entry list.

That, it turned out, was a clue to the New Zealander’s final destination given Speedcafe understands he already had a race contract for 2025 in his pocket.

After two years as reserve driver at Red Bull, an option existed in his contract to either  release him by mid-September – leaving him enough time to secure his future elsewhere – or deliver him a race drive for 2025.

By not exercising that exit clause, Red Bull effectively guaranteed Lawson a seat; the only question was in which of its two teams.

With his promotion to Red Bull confirmed it opened the door for Isack Hadjar to be named as his replacement at Racing Bulls – the new name for the squad that for 2024 had confusingly been branded RB.

Hadjar (who has not yet confirmed his choice of race number) is one of six rookies on the grid, if one considers Lawson in that group, along with Kimi Antonelli, Jack Doohan, Oliver Bearman, and Gabriel Bortoleto.

There is no room for Franco Colapinto. The Argentinian impressed in his early races but a spate of crashes saw his stock tumble as quickly as it rose.

He’ll be relegated to reserve driver duties with Williams, though speculation continues to link him to drives elsewhere, some with the potential for an early-season switch.

Mercedes has added depth to its revised line-up with the return of Valtteri Bottas as third driver too.

Other changes of note include the release of Theo Pourchaire as reserve driver at Sauber, the team Gabriel Bortoleto has joined after leaving McLaren’s junior program following victory in this year’s F2 Championship.

Red Bull is also now in the market for a new reserve driver, with Ayumu Iwasa, Pepe Marti, and Arvid Lindblad thought to be among those under consideration.

McLaren and Aston Martin the only teams taking an unchanged pairing into F1 2025.

Complete F1 2025 entry list