On the face of it, the emergence of three 2027 driver announcements in the same week might suggest that Formula 1's silly season had truly kicked off in style as the season emerged from its summer hibernation. All three, however, were announcements of contract renewals. This isn't silly season - this is sensible season, and it wouldn't be wholly surprising to see news of a few more contract extensions disseminate across worldwide media platforms over the next few months. Alex Albon, Carlos Sainz, and now Max Verstappen have chosen to hold position, which should start to precipitate the fall of a few more dominoes in this year's driver market.

There's still plenty of open seats for next year and expectations of a few shuffles in the order, even if it's not the wholesale changes around the grid that perhaps some were hoping for. Either way, 2027's grid is starting to fall into place. Here's a look at the situation so far.

Mercedes has both Kimi Antonelli and George Russell tied up for '27. Ferrari is happy with its Charles Leclerc-Lewis Hamilton pairing. McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both have contracts for next year, though Verstappen had held talks with the team. Red Bull has locked Verstappen down until at least 2030, with Isack Hadjar impressing as his teammate.

Racing Bulls faces a three-into-two-won't-go conundrum with Liam Lawson, Arvid Lindblad, and F2 leader Nikola Tsolov. Alpine has Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto, while Haas looks set to retain Oliver Bearman alongside an uncertain second seat.