“You’re only as good as your last race,” is a sentiment popularized in Formula One by Sir Frank Williams, founder of the Williams Racing Team. This is a sentiment that has been echoed throughout the paddock. When it first became popular, the saying was seen as commentary on how quickly the public and the media can turn on a driver after one bad race, regardless of how successful they’d been in the past. As time progressed, the saying has taken a whole new meaning as more drivers get replaced mid-season due to “underperformance.”
The replacement of drivers midway through the season is nothing new in the sport. In fact, it is a practice that Red Bull Racing has become well known for. With their most notable switch coming in 2016 when they chose to promote young Dutch driver Max Verstappen to their main team replacing Russian Daniil Kvyat. Verstappen then went on to win four consecutive Drivers Championships and two back-to-back Constructors Championships.
The first modification came when Williams decided to replace American driver Logan Sargeant with rookie Franco Colapinto, an F2 rookie from their academy program. Sargeant’s replacement came as a surprise to no one, as he not only struggled to score points, but also had one of the largest margins of cost in the field. Costing Williams an estimated $2.9 million in damage according to Sports Illustrated, which proved detrimental given the team started the season already in a difficult financial situation. However, what did come as a surprise and brought a lot of controversy to the switch, was their choice of replacement.
Though the team from Milton Keynes have been the pioneers of the practice, they haven’t been the only ones to indulge in it. Last year, the grid witnessed a total of three driver swaps before the end of the season, the most changes the sport has seen in recent years.
They chose to promote Colapinto, a driver who was only in his rookie season of Formula 2 and had not been overly impressive. However, the Argentinian didn’t let the noise distract him as he scored points in only his second Formula One race. Colapinto continued to put up good performances, impressing other team principles and winning over the fans who, at first, largely doubted him.
The significant team changes didn’t end there, as Visa Cash App RB, Red Bull’s sister team, brought the season’s second driver swap. The team announced four days after the Singapore Grand Prix, that they would be releasing beloved driver Daniel Ricciardo and replace him with New Zealander Liam Lawson. This was the second time that Lawson stepped in for Ricciardo. The New Zealander also replaced Ricciardo for six races in 2023 after the driver suffered a crash that resulted in a broken wrist. Much like the first time he took over the seat, Lawson showed everyone why he got the drive, scoring points in his first race back. He continued to outperform his predecessor as the season progressed, securing himself one of the most coveted seats in Formula One. That being, a seat on the main Red Bull team for the 2025 season.
The last change did not come midway through the season, but rather days before the season finale. It was announced that Alpine reserve driver, Jack Doohan, would step in place of Esteban Ocon. This made the Abu Dhabi GP Doohan’s Formula One debut a race earlier than anticipated. It also came with much controversy as many saw the swap as unnecessary. The change brought outrage to fans, given Ocon had been the only driver to bring a race win to the team in recent years. His stay at the French team had not been without issue as he had become notorious for constantly butting heads with his teammates, costing the team both points and money over the years. Many saw this as Alpine’s retaliation for Ocon signing with Haas Formula One team for the 2025 season, though the team denied his decision to change teams having any involvement in their decision for making the driver change.
It is hard to say whether the practice of changing drivers midseason will go away anytime soon. As the sport becomes more and more cutthroat, the talent in junior series continues to develop to great calibers. The tendency from here is only for midseason changing to become more and more prominent, as more teams adopt the practice, putting more pressure on drivers to deliver perfect performances no matter what.