Horner details 'solutions' for Red Bull future

Christian Horner has voiced his confidence in the "tremendous pool of talent" at Red Bull's disposal.

The team principal provided an update on the junior programme at Spa-Francorchamps, in the midst of heavy speculation that it would be drawn upon after what looked likely to be Sergio Perez's last weekend with the team.

It had been anticipated that Daniel Ricciardo would step up to his former seat to replace the Mexican driver, with Liam Lawson then slotting in alongside Yuki Tsunoda at RB.

Or, alternatively, that the New Zealander would go straight into a race seat as Max Verstappen's team-mate after his impressive AlphaTauri cameo last year.

However, after a senior management meeting on the Monday following the Belgian Grand Prix, the Milton Keynes-based outfit opted for stability in its driver line-ups, keeping Perez alongside Verstappen until at least the end of the 2024 F1 season.

Meanwhile, it also confirmed Ricciardo would remain at RB, putting to bed any lingering speculation that Lawson could be jettisoned in, even though the Australian's recent form had all but vanquished any such threat.

"We've got issues," the 50-year-old admitted to media including RacingNews365, refusing to shy away from the driver problems Red Bull seemingly had before making its decisions on Monday.

"But you've got to have solutions for tomorrow as well, and I think we've got a tremendous pool of talent."

'Experience' and 'youth' from Lawson, Hadjar and Lindblad

Despite Lawson now being consigned to spending the rest of the year on the sidelines, there remains the possibility he will find himself in a Red Bull or RB seat for 2025.

The team also has F2 championship leader Isack Hadjar knocking on the door. The 19-year-old has impressed in his second campaign in F1's highest feeder category and provides a good alternative for Red Bull.

Further down the order, Prema Racing driver Arvid Lindblad has enjoyed a strong debut season in FIA F3, and is in the championship fight as a rookie, and despite a difficult couple of rounds.

The 16-year-old scored a sprint and feature race win double at Silverstone, his home event, and is believed to be the Red Bull-instigated catalyst behind the FIA's recent regulation change to loosen the rules around super licenses.

"We've got experience, we've got youth," Horner added, before addressing the three aforementioned drivers.

"We've got Liam [Lawson] in the wings, we've got [Isack] Hadjar doing a super job in F2. We've got Arvid Lindblad, who I think is a really exciting talent in F3. I think we've got some great talent in our squad."