03/09/2025 11:45
Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko has provided the timeframe by which
Red Bull will finalise who Max Verstappen's team-mate will be in
2026. The Dutchman committed himself to the Milton Keynes squad
earlier in the summer after considerable speculation that he would
seek pastures new. Despite being contracted to the six-time
constructors' champions until 2028, the four-time F1 drivers'
champion engaged in talks with Toto Wolff over a potential switch
to Mercedes. But whilst Verstappen's immediate future has been sewn
up, Red Bull still has the difficult task of choosing his team-mate
for next term. Its second seat has plagued the team for some time
now, and despite a brief reprieve from those issues when Sergio
Perez joined in 2021, the Mexican driver eventually fell victim to
the same fate as Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon before him. After
scoring a meagre 49 points over the final 18 rounds of the 2024
campaign, Perez was replaced by Liam Lawson for the current season.
However, the New Zealander struggled considerably with the
transition to the idiosyncrasies of Red Bull's cars and was demoted
back to Racing Bulls after two painful and pointless rounds. The
previously overlooked Yuki Tsunoda was drafted in, but the
25-year-old has fared little better, and undeniably worse than
Perez, who will return to F1 with Cadillac next year. Having scored
just nine points in 13 rounds, the Japanese driver is under
significant pressure to turn his underwhelming form around, or face
the prospect of, like Perez, a season spent on the sidelines.
Laurent Mekies' promotion to Red Bull team principal, in place of
Christian Horner, marks the start of a new era, one that may prove
less ruthless and less inclined towards quick driver changes. It
may also afford Lawson a second shot at being team-mate to
Verstappen, if Tsunoda is ultimately let go at the end of the year.
Heading into a new generation of F1 cars, and with Red Bull
potentially motivated to achieve greater parity between the
Dutchman and whoever partners him, could also work in his favour.
The third option is Lawson's current team-mate, Isack Hadjar. The
young Frenchman has taken F1 by storm this season, and his maiden
podium in the Dutch Grand Prix has set tails wagging even more
ferociously about his promise and potential than they already were
following a strong first half season. The 15 points the 20-year-old
secured for his trip to the Zandvoort rostrum are six more than
Tsunoda has managed since his first race for Red Bull. The team
might, in a departure from its norm, opt to give Hadjar more time
at Racing Bulls to develop. Either way, Marko has explained that
the team will make its final call before the end of next month.
"We'll see," the 82-year-old told Austrian publication OE24 when
asked if Hadjar will be ready the step up as early as 2026. "We
have until October to make that decision." Expanding on his point,
Marko pointed to Kimi Antonelli's recent struggles at Mercedes as
justification for why the F2 runner-up has not already been
elevated to Red Bull. "Because he should have a certain amount of
experience," he explained. "The pressure is much greater in a top
team, as we can see at Mercedes." Who do you think will partner Max
Verstappen at Red Bull next season? Let us know by voting below in
the latest poll by RacingNews365 .
