Where are they now? The last time F1 had 22 drivers on the grid

Elizabeth Blackstock
Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing PlanetF1

In 2016, Max Verstappen was a teenager racing for Toro Rosso. Now, he's a four-time champion.

In F1 2026, the Cadillac F1 team is set to join the Formula 1 grid, and for the first time in a decade, the field will feature 11 teams and 22 drivers.

So, where are those drivers now? Today, we’re taking a trip down memory lane to catch up with drivers you may not have thought about in a few years!

F1 2016 grid

Rio Haryanto (and Esteban Ocon)

Back in 2016, Rio Haryanto and Esteban Ocon shared a seat at Manor Racing, with Haryanto starting the year and Ocon ending it.

We know Ocon has made the swap over to Haas for the F1 2025 season, but Haryanto has taken a different turn.

The Indonesian driver moved into sports car racing for a few seasons before entering the world of professional golfing and business.

Marcus Ericsson

Marcus Ericsson was a Sauber driver in Formula 1 the last time the series had 22 drivers on the grid.

He stuck it out in the series until 2018, after which point he made the move to America’s IndyCar series — first with Arrow SPM, then with Chip Ganassi Racing, and now with Andretti Global.

Ericsson has taken four victories during his IndyCar career, including the 2022 Indianapolis 500.

Esteban Gutierrez

Mexico’s Esteban Gutierrez left Formula 1 at the end of the 2016 season with the Haas F1 team.

Since then, he’s contested a handful of events in Formula E, IndyCar, and the World Endurance Championship while also juggling reserve and development driver roles.

In 2024, he joined Mercedes’ F1 operation as an ambassador and also heads the company that serves as F1’s official merchandise distributor for Latin America.

Pascal Wehrlein

A full-time Manor driver in 2016, Pascal Wehrlein’s rookie year left much to be desired — as did his return in 2017 with Sauber.

At the conclusion of the latter season, he joined Mahindra Racing in Formula E.

When Porsche joined the electric racing series, Wehrlein joined them and took his first FE World Championship last year, during the 2023-24 season.

He’ll remain with Porsche throughout the 2024-25 year.

Jolyon Palmer

Renault’s Jolyon Palmer saw his final full season of Formula 1 competition in 2016; the subsequent year, he was dropped partway through the season due to a lack of performance.

However, he has since kicked off a truly impressive career in commentary, primarily with the BBC and F1TV.

Felipe Nasr

Over at Sauber, Felipe Nasr’s talent rarely had time to shine — and, as it would turn out, his 2016 season would be his last in F1.

Instead, Nasr made a massively successful pivot to sports car racing.

He took an overall win at the 2024 Rolex 24 along with three IMSA titles — the first two of which came with Cadillac.

Kevin Magnussen

In 2016, Kevin Magnussen was a Renault F1 driver — a role he’d hold for just that single season before moving on to Haas, being dropped by Haas, and then being re-signed after spending 2021 out of a seat.

The F1 2024 season appears to be Magnussen’s last; after failing to be renewed by Haas or find a role at a different team, Magnussen admitted that he is more interested in raising his young family than traveling the globe.

He’ll also compete with BMW in both IMSA and WEC.

Jenson Button

The 2016 Formula 1 season was the last full campaign for 2009 World Champion Jenson Button.

The McLaren he raced proved difficult to handle, and instead, the Briton soon departed for a slew of different competition: NASCAR, endurance racing, rallycross, regional GT racing and so much more.

In 2018, he became a Super GT champion and had the honor of piloting the Garage 56 NASCAR Camaro at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Daniil Kvyat

Russian racer Daniil Kvyat had a miserable 2016.

He began the season with Red Bull Racing, only to be demoted back to Toro Rosso after just five races.

Though he managed to eke out a career in the junior team through 2020, his F1 career was doomed from the moment of demotion.

In the aftermath, Kvyat has made a handful of NASCAR series starts in both the Cup and Xfinity Series, and has also contested the World Endurance Championship with Prema’s LMP2 team and Lamborghini’s Hypercar program.

Romain Grosjean

In 2016, Romain Grosjean joined the incoming Haas F1 team for the outfit’s first season and kicked things off strong with a handful of points-paying finishes that any new team could be proud of.

It was the start of a five-year stint with Haas that only ended after Grosjean survived a fireball of a wreck at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix.

Afterward, he moved to IndyCar, racing for three different teams in two years, though he won’t be on the 2025 grid.

Grosjean also joined the Lamborghini endurance racing program and will continue in that capacity into 2025.

Carlos Sainz Jr.

In 2016, Carlos Sainz Jr. was still a member of the Red Bull Junior Driver Development Program; at that time, he was racing with Toro Rosso.

Sainz is one of the drivers still racing in Formula 1.

In F1 2025, he’ll be heading off to Williams after losing out on his Ferrari seat to Lewis Hamilton.

More from the F1 archives:

??Where are they now? The last 10 F1 drivers to be sacked during the season

??Six forgotten Grand Prix circuits that Formula 1 used to race on

Felipe Massa

Felipe Massa would race in Formula 1 for just one more season after 2016, after which point he retired from full-time competition.

Afterward, he took part in Formula E, Porsche GT3 Cup Brazil, and the Stock Car Pro Series.

At the moment, he also serves as a Formula 1 pundit.

Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso fans are likely cursing the 2016 Formula 1 season.

In an uncompetitive McLaren-Honda, the two-time World Champion could only manage nine points finishes across the year, failing to finish higher than fifth.

Alonso, now 43, is something of an omnipresent force on the grid and he’ll retain his position at Aston Martin for another season in F1 2025.

Let us also pay a quick nod to Stoffel Vandoorne, the driver who replaced an injured Alonso in Bahrain and scored points on debut with 10th place, having qualified faster than regular driver Jenson Button.

He went on to become a champion in Formula E and to mount a strong endurance racing career.

Nico Hulkenberg

Like a few other drivers on this list, Nico Hulkenberg is still competing in Formula 1.

Back in 2016, he was part of the Sahara Force India team (which has since become Aston Martin).

In F1 2025, he’s starting a new chapter with Audi F1, which will take over the existing Sauber team next year.

Valtteri Bottas

Valtteri Bottas is departing the active Formula 1 grid in 2025, where he’ll become a reserve driver for Mercedes.

But back in 2016, he was still a Williams driver gunning to make the most of his machinery.

Bottas headed off to Mercedes in 2017 after the retirement of Nico Rosberg, claiming 10 victories in a five-year spell with the Brackley-based team.

When George Russell was promoted to Mercedes at the end of 2021, Bottas instead headed to Sauber, then competing under the Alfa Romeo banner.

Sergio Perez

Ah, the Force India days!

Sergio Perez spent seven years competing for the team (which later became known as Racing Point), and his seventh place overall in the championship highlighted his skill as a racer.

After all, he was making the most out of equipment provided by a team that had very nearly gone bankrupt.

Now, after four years with Red Bull Racing, the Mexican driver’s future is unclear.

He won’t be returning with the team in F1 2025, having seen a significant drop in his performance throughout 2024.

Kimi Raikkonen

2016 was Kimi Raikkonen’s 15th year racing in Formula 1, and he spent two more years competing for the same team before making a three-year switch to Alfa Romeo prior to retirement.

The Finnish racer has almost entirely stopped competing, with the exception of two NASCAR Cup Series appearances at road courses around America.

In 2022, he also served as team principal of the Kawasaki Racing Team in the Motocross World Championship.

Max Verstappen

The 2016 F1 season was truly Max Verstappen’s breakout year.

He started the season with Toro Rosso, Red Bull’s junior team, before being promoted to the front-running organization.

In his very first race as a Red Bull driver, Verstappen took victory.

That win at the Spanish Grand Prix was a sign of things to come for a driver that just secured his fourth consecutive World Championship in F1 2024.

Sebastian Vettel

The 2016 F1 season was four-time champion Sebastian Vettel’s second with Scuderia Ferrari, and it unfortunately failed to net him any victories.

He’d stay with Ferrari until the end of 2020 before wrapping up his F1 career by putting in two years at Aston Martin.

After his retirement, Vettel has invested in Germany’s SailGP team and has dedicated himself to raising awareness for environmental issues.

Daniel Ricciardo

In 2016, Daniel Ricciardo was on top of the world.

He was a full-time competitor with Red Bull Racing and was the best-performing driver to?not race for the Mercedes team.

But his role with the team only lasted a few more years.

In 2019, he moved to Renault. In 2021, he swapped to McLaren. After rookie Nyck de Vries struggled, he returned to Red Bull’s junior team, then called AlphaTauri, in 2023.

What’s next for Ricciardo? After being dropped partway through the 2024 season, it’s tough to say.

Ricciardo has largely kept out of the spotlight since, while questions and rumors swirl.

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton missed out on the 2016 World Championship by just five points to Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg after an immensely contentious season.

Hamilton would go back to his winning ways the following year.

In F1 2025, we’ll still see Hamilton on the grid, albeit wearing Ferrari red for the very first time.

Nico Rosberg

Nico Rosberg was hungry for a World Championship, and in 2016, he achieved his goal and became one of two father/son pairings to win titles in F1.

Keke Rosberg’s 1982 title was also won by a margin of just five points over second place.

Immediately after accomplishing this feat, Nico Rosberg announced his retirement from racing.

You can now find him offering insight as a Sky F1 pundit.

Read next:?The big F1 2024 quiz: Take the ultimate test this Christmas

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