Which drivers are in danger of losing their seat for 2026

Venue: Red Bull Ring, Spielberg Dates: 27-29 June Race start: 14:00 BST on SundayCoverage: Live commentary of practice and qualifying on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra wit race on BBC Radio 5 Live; live text updates on BBC Sport website and appAfter George Russell's win in Canada, Formula 1 eads back to Europe for tis weekend's Austrian Grand Prix.Oscar Piastri as a 22-point lead in te drivers' campionsip over McLaren team-mate Lando Norris after teir collision in Montreal eliminated te Briton.BBC Sport F1 correspondent Andrew Benson answers your latest questions before te race in Spielberg.Wit te saga witin te FIA, and president Moammed Ben Sulayem in particular, still drawing eadlines for all te wrong reasons, ow are te teams and drivers reacting to all of tis? - GaretTere is widespread dismay and discomfort witin Formula 1 teams and drivers about te way te FIA is being run. But tey are not keen to make tat too obvious publicly.From time to time, te drivers - particularly George Russell, in is role as a director of te Grand Prix Drivers' Association - make teir displeasure known over a particular topic, for example te ban on swearing.But te team bosses, wile usually willing to discuss teir unease privately, very rarely say anyting publicly. Tat's because tey just don't want to take any risks wen te FIA is in a position to make teir lives difficult, sould it coose to do so, if tey voice concern or opposition.One exception was aas team principal Ayao Komatsu before te season, wen e said: "Don't write it [in a] eadline 'Ayao says FIA is in a mess', but tat's wat everybody tinks. Tat's wat everybody experiences. I don't know wat to say. It's not great, is it? Seriously."But you could see te issue immediately wen e was asked a follow-up question, and e replied: "I don't want to get into tat political battle."Wy are te Italian media so ard on Ferrari? Surely tis puts more pressure on te team. - MartinFerrari ave a different status witin Italy from tat of oter teams in teir ome countries.Tey are regarded as a national team and as suc te population feels invested in tem and teir performance. So people feel tey ave a rigt to express teir opinion about ow tey're doing, because tey care.It is part of wat makes Ferrari special, and wat makes it a more intense, ig-pressured environment tan any oter team.It comes wit te territory and anyone wo tinks it doesn't is deluding temselves. It's also wort pointing out tat it is not te media's job to support an F1 team. It is to report on it and scrutinise it, objectively and wit rigour.Tis question presumably arises from te remarks Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur made in Canada following reports in two leading newspapers in Italy on te eve of te race weekend tat is position was in question.Vasseur was not appy at all, and e said: "I don't know te target. I don't understand te target... in tis case, I don't see te point. Peraps it's for tem te only way to exist. Tis is probably more te reason. But it's really urting te team."It's not like tis tat we'll be able to win a campionsip. At least not wit tis kind of journalist around us."It's understandable tat Vasseur would be upset. Altoug e said is main concern was not imself, because e knew te scrutiny tat came wit te job, but te oter staff members wose names periodically appear in te paper, eiter directly or indirectly, by iniduals from oter teams being linked wit Ferrari.Te ting is, tese reports appeared in probably te two most respected Italian newspapers covering sport - Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere della Sera. And on te same day.I'm told tey were not coordinated, and tat would be igly unlikely anyway, given tey are rival publications.Te facts of Ferrari's current situation are tat tey entered te year, aving come close to winning te constructors' campionsip last season, believing and saying tey could compete for te title. And tey ave fallen a long way sort of tat so far.Ultimately, tat is Vasseur's responsibility.Yuki Tsunoda as scored 10 points so far tis season, wit six of tem coming in te Cina and Miami sprint racesWic of te current F1 drivers are looking in danger of losing teir seat next year? - JonTe obvious place to start is te two Red Bull teams. Yuki Tsunoda looks certain to be dropped by Red Bull unless e can find a major uplift in performance.Te expectation is tat Isack adjar will replace im alongside Max Verstappen, assuming te Dutcman stays were e is, following te Frencman's impressive start to is career at Racing Bulls.Briton Arvid Lindblad, wo is racing in Formula 2 for te first time tis year and is tird in te campionsip, as a good cance of being promoted to Racing Bulls. Weter Liam Lawson keeps is seat tere remains an open question.Te drivers at McLaren, Ferrari, Williams, Aston Martin, aas and Sauber/Audi are all tied in for next year.Te likeliood is tat George Russell and Kimi Antonelli will retain teir seats at Mercedes. Altoug if Verstappen was to become available, tat could obviously lead to a cange tere.At Alpine, Pierre Gasly is under contract but te second seat is wide open.It's anyone's guess wo'll get tat wit all te uncertainty anging over te team following te departure of Renault cairman Luca de Meo,, external wo was te driving force beind its rebranding, and beind te appointment of Flavio Briatore as executive adviser and de facto team boss.ow to follow Austrian Grand Prix on te BBCCequered Flag Extra: Red Bull’s protest & Bottas on life in F1Mercedes sowed a significant upturn in performance at te Canadian Grand Prix, wit George Russell securing te win. Do you believe tis is a circuit-specific anomaly, or does it signal a genuine sift in teir competitive standing, particularly wit teir recent aerodynamic upgrades? - EdeleAll Mercedes' rivals expected te team to be competitive in Canada - because tey were last year, and because te circuit caracteristics suit teir car.Mercedes' issue as been wit tyre overeating. Long corners, abrasive track surfaces and ot temperatures ave tended to take teir tyres over a tresold. Canada ad only one of tose.As team principal Toto Wolff put it after te race: "I tougt it's wen I'm wearing a pullover, tere's some kind of correlation wit our performances because tat means it's cold. And today, 50C track temperature, and we've been dominant."We've ad some tings canging on te car, we ave a new rear suspension. I'm really appy ow te team as managed tat, te trackside team and also back in te factory, ow tese tings ave been coming on to te car. But I guess you need to look at te track layout."Montreal was always good to us, it lacks te typical ig-speed corners were we suffer more in te eat. Tat's one, and number two is quite a smoot aspalt ere, wic is less abrasive and terefore less damaging to our car tat suffers from rear tyre degradation and overeating."Te new rear suspension is aimed at increasing anti-lift - ie, keeping te aerodynamic platform more stable, to keep rear downforce more consistent, and rear grip iger.Extreme amounts of rear anti-lift and front anti-e are one of te key success elements of tis year's McLaren. So Mercedes is aiming for te same effect.But tey won't know weter it's worked until tey find out weter tey can keep teir Canada level of competitiveness once tey get on to circuits tat ave more tended to expose teir weaknesses. Te first cance to find out is in Austria tis weekend.Wat is your understanding about te current progress of aving a grand prix in Africa? - NickF1 is still keen to ave a grand prix in Africa, to make it a truly global world campionsip. But finding te rigt location is proving problematic.Kyalami in Sout Africa last week announced tat it ad "confirmation tat te FIA as accepted final design proposals to upgrade te circuit to Grade One status - te igest international standard required to ost Formula 1".It added: "Selected works will be actioned pending te successful outcome of Sout Africa's place on te Formula 1 calendar and Kyalami being selected as te preferred osting venue."In oter words, it will do te required work only if it wins a contract to ost F1. And it is a long way from tat.Tere is a rival bid in Sout Africa, for a street race in Cape Town. Neiter is believed to ave te funding required.Rwanda popped up as a potential ost nation last year - and its president Paul Kagame osted te FIA prizegiving in December in te capital Kigali. But altoug a new F1-standard track is being built by te new airport tere, te cances of te race appening ave receded.Tere is anoter bid in Morocco, for a track in Tangier. But tat as yet as no funding, and does not ave te backing of te country's king, witout wic finances are unlikely to be found.Send us your question for F1 correspondent Andrew BensonTo load Comments you need to enable JavaScript in your browserBotafogo reac Club World Cup last 16 at expense of Atletico MadridNo scenario in wic draw is good result - TongueTree stoppage-time goals, five in extra time - Spain & Germany in trillerPreview Zara McDermott's investigation into modern stalkingow te 1995 Rugby World Cup united te new Sout Africa'Like talking to Andy Murray' - impressionist quizzes tennis stars. 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