Red Bull looks for a vice-Max Verstappen
Who will sit in the second Red Bull seat alongside Max Verstappen in 2025? On paper, the natural answer should be Sergio Perez, if only because the Mexican driver has already signed a contract for next season and the following one, supported by many economic interests backing his candidacy. However, Checo’s disappointing performances are pushing the Milton Keynes team to look elsewhere, with almost-debutant Liam Lawson considered the favorite, while Franco Colapinto’s chances have seemingly collapsed after recent GP crashes. And then, by Helmut Marko’s own admission, there’s Yuki Tsunoda, who is now an experienced driver and will test the RB20 during Pirelli’s Abu Dhabi test on December 10th.
Helmut Marko speaks about Yuki Tsunoda
In Qatar, the Japanese driver vented a bit, urging journalists to ask the team’s management if there were chances to see him in Red Bull in 2025. The 81-year-old former Austrian driver responded firmly: “It’s not true that we’re neglecting him, on the contrary, we are following him very closely. He had two great races in Brazil and Las Vegas, but he also crashed twice in Mexico. He’s increasingly managing to control his emotions, so I’d say yes, I’d say he could be a potential replacement for Perez.”
According to Marko, Yuki Tsunoda’s problem is still his lack of consistency throughout the season: “The last two races were two excellent performances, but unfortunately in Mexico, he also made two stupid mistakes. Yuki has the speed he needs, but he lacks stability and reliability. However, when things work well for him, they really go well. His weakness is that he’s not very consistent, he’s made a lot of unforced errors this season. The engineers and other people involved will soon make an evaluation. Perez? You can’t win the championship with just one car…” – he concluded ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix weekend.
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