With Carlos Sainz moving to Ferrari and Daniel Ricciardo heading for McLaren, AFP looks at how the grid in the 2021 Formula One world championship is shaping up.
Mercedes
-- Six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton is under contract until the end of 2020 and has made no secret of his intention to stay with the sport's top team as he targets Michael Schumacher's record of seven titles. His teammate Valtteri Bottas is also signed up until the end of this year. However, the 30-year-old Finn is believed to be under pressure from highly-rated Williams driver George Russell, a product of the Mercedes young drivers scheme. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has said he wants to keep Hamilton and Bottas together. But he also admitted that he cannot "ignore" the fact that four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel has already announced he is leaving Ferrari at the end of this season.
Monaco's Charles Leclerc, just 22, has a deal with the Italian giants until 2024 and with Vettel on his way out, will expect to see the team built around him. In 2021, his new teammate will be Spain's Carlos Sainz, three years his senior, who will leave McLaren.
Red Bull (Honda engine)
-- Max Verstappen, 22, is on the books until 2023. Teammate Alexander Albon has a contract until the end of this season having been promoted from the Red Bull sister team. He needs to keep making an impression, especially with Vettel, a former Red Bull star, a free agent.