What happens if Formula 1 driver or engine contracts expire at the end of 2020 and the season runs into 2021?
Should the 2020 season indeed end in January, that question is potentially a headache for a few teams. But it is one that McLaren F1 boss Andreas Seidl, whose team is the only one to have a driver and engine deal expiring this year, hopes will have an “easy” answer.
The COVID-19 crisis has caused the start of the 2020 championship to be suspended, with July expected to be the earliest opportunity to begin. F1 is just alone in suffering a hiatus that is causing major scheduling headaches, among other consequences, in the sporting world.
In football, and other competitions that run their seasons across two calendar years, the delay is more problematic because many players have contracts that end in June but a season that could run well beyond that.
F1 is fortunate in that regard based on its normal schedule, but with everything ‘normal’ being thrown out of the window, it is not immune to peculiarities.
Several scenarios are being discussed to complete a significant number of races in the 2020 season and teams have been receptive to the idea of running races in January next year, ahead of a short winter break and the 2021 season beginning in March as normal.
This will be aided by this year’s chassis being carried over and new technical rules not being implemented until 2022.
Of the current grid, only Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Max Verstappen (Red Bull), Lando Norris (McLaren), Esteban Ocon (Renault) and Sergio Perez (Racing Point) have publicly confirmed deals beyond 2020.
But that still leaves more than half the grid to be decided, and while the majority of those may well remain with their current teams, some may well need to delay a switch and negotiate a minor extension of their current deals
Norris earned a multi-year contract extension in 2019, but Carlos Sainz Jr is in the final year of his initial McLaren deal.
He and McLaren started talks on a new contract earlier this year and appear happy to continue their relationship, but Sainz is still one of the majority of F1 drivers – including Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo – who could be out-of-contract at the end of 2020 but need to race for the team in January 2021.
McLaren team principal Seidl says: “Contracts, it doesn’t matter which, will not be a big issue.
“I think it will be easy to find solutions there, because everyone involved has the same interest.”
We can provisionally add the likes of Hamilton and Lance Stroll to the list of ‘stable’ drivers given we have a reasonable idea where they will end up next year, regardless of when this season ends.
Perhaps we could end up with the bizarre scenario of either team or driver demanding that a deal ends at the end of December, and a new one begins in January?
But that still leaves more than half the grid to be decided, and while the majority of those may well remain with their current teams, some may well need to delay a switch and negotiate a minor extension of their current deals.
In recent years contractual disputes have been largely limited to how long after the season ends a driver must wait to be released to join a new team.
For example, Ricciardo was kept under lock and key by Red Bull prior to joining Renault for 2019, whereas Mercedes agreed for Ocon to test for Renault immediately after the 2019 season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The unusual situation we have now, including teams needing to save money, presents a curveball.
Perhaps we could end up with the bizarre scenario of either team or driver demanding that a deal ends at the end of December, and a new one begins in January?
Or a driver wants out of Team A as soon as possible, and is willing to sit out a couple of January races to be better prepared for their switch to Team B?
So, it should be solved quite amicably. In theory, if all the racing is wrapped up by the end of January, it would just require any contract expiring on December 31 to be extended to January 31, and no new deals signed to begin earlier than February 1
Either scenario could prompt driver changes for the final race or two of the season, and this could descend into chaos.
If some drivers agree to a briefly extended a deal and others head straight for the exit door, it will cause a very difficult and poignant season for F1 to end in bad blood.
As Seidl says, the outcome of the current extraordinary situation impacts all teams equally. So one would expect, rather than hope, that common sense will prevail.
It is in the interest of a driver and a team to see out the season. There is already evidence of unprecedented flexibility, given several drivers have taken temporary pay cuts as part of the cost-cutting exercises employed by teams during the current crisis.
The unusual circumstances have also been established so early in the year that there are no publicly confirmed deals in place that tie a driver to joining a new team on January 1.
McLaren is in a rare situation on the engine side too, because team is switching from Renault engines to Mercedes for 2021, persevering with that change despite the chassis carry-over
So, it should be solved quite amicably. In theory, if all the racing is wrapped up by the end of January, it would just require any contract expiring on December 31 to be extended to January 31, and no new deals signed to begin earlier than February 1.
Arguably the bigger problem for any driver trying to switch teams would be the lack of time to acclimatise, rather than working out how to deal with the crossover of years.
They would lose January in the build-up to the new season and February would be the only opportunity for respite before the championship resets for 2021.
If one of the pre-season tests is cancelled, as appears to be on F1’s radar, that would mean much less time to learn a new team and only a day-and-a-half behind the wheel of a new car.
Addressing the situation purely contractually, though, it would seem Seidl’s confidence is well placed.
McLaren is in a rare situation on the engine side too, because team is switching from Renault engines to Mercedes for 2021, persevering with that change despite the chassis carry-over.
“If it really happens that we are going racing in January, I don’t think that there will be any issue regarding our agreement we have with Renault. I think it’s important to state also we have a great relationship there and an open and transparent relationship for this year. So, I don’t see an issue there” :: Andreas Seidl
It is the only team changing engines during this period and has agreed for the FIA to closely inspect what it modifies on the MCL35 to facilitate the different engine.
But there would almost certainly be no resistance from Mercedes towards McLaren using a Renault engine in the first month of 2021, and no logistical reason for Renault to be unable to extend supply/assistance beyond 2020 either.
All engine manufacturers will be revising their production and supply chains anyway, because the season will be extended and that means planning factory work so there are parts available for however long is required.
Presumably Renault will want its only customer team to complete the season, too.
“If it really happens that we are going racing in January, I don’t think that there will be any issue regarding our agreement we have with Renault,” said Seidl.
“I think it’s important to state also we have a great relationship there and an open and transparent relationship for this year.
“So, I don’t see an issue there.”
