As Sergio Perez’s struggles continue, the conversations continue within Red Bull about who would be the ideal replacement for the Mexican driver. With Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson now driving for Red Bull’s junior team RB, both are seemingly being evaluated as potential options to partner with Max Verstappen.
As Red Bull continue to assess their options, Christian Horner has now highlighted the challenges any driver teaming up with Verstappen will face. When asked to share his thoughts on Tsunoda’s recent performances, Horner replied, “Speed-wise, we can see he’s fast. He’s experienced now, he’s making less mistakes. Everything is taken into account in any driver decision.”
“We’ll weigh it all up after the season. The priority is to understand what the path is with Sergio. And of course, what you have to remember is the pressure of being Max’s team-mate is probably the hardest job in Formula 1”.
I heard you Yuki. And asked Christian Horner…
“Speed-wise, we can see he’s fast. He’s experienced now, he’s making less mistakes.
“Everything is taken into account in any driver decision. We’ll weigh it all up after the season.
“The priority is to understand what the path… https://t.co/l7FBmaQ8M9
— Scott Mitchell-Malm (@SMitchellF1) November 29, 2024
Verstappen has indeed made short work of most of his teammates so far in F1. The only teammate that has so far been able to provide Verstappen some kind of challenge has been former F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo. But then again, the Dutchman was vastly inexperienced back then.
After Ricciardo left Red Bull at the end of the 2018 season, it was Pierre Gasly who stepped up to partner with Verstappen in 2019. The Frenchman found it so difficult to match the Dutchman that Red Bull demoted him midseason and replaced him with Alex Albon.
Although Albon lasted a full season alongside Verstappen, Red Bull decided to replace him with Perez after the Thai driver finished 109 points behind the now four-time world champion in 2020. With Perez struggling all the more now, the Bulls will perhaps be regretting their decision to drop Albon too soon.
Who is the frontrunner to replace Perez?
Considering that Perez has found it incredibly difficult to reach Q3, a minimum requirement for a driver competing for Red Bull, it seems that it is only a matter of time before the Milton Keynes-based outfit replace him. The million-dollar question is who will they choose?
Red Bull have often been criticized for their impulsive decisions whenever they have sacked their drivers midseason. In order to avoid such a scenario, they are perhaps taking their time to pick the ideal driver to partner up with Verstappen.
Tsunoda is probably the favorite going by experienced as he is currently competing in his fourth full-time F1 season, having driven for RB (previously AlphaTauri) in all these years. However, according to most of the experts, the favorite seems to be Lawson, who RB drafted in midseason this year to audition for that second seat alongside Verstappen.
Red Bull’s options do not end there though. With Horner recently visiting Williams’ motorhome, there are rumors that Red Bull are perhaps also seriously considering signing Franco Colapinto, who has surprised everyone with his short impressive cameo.
