RB deny theory over second F1 seat decision

RB team principal Laurent Mekies has shot down the idea that one person in the Red Bull family has full discretion when it comes to making driver line-up decisions.

The 47-year-old further extended his point to all teams, wagering that it is "never like that" in F1 as he explained the process for driver decisions at RB and Red Bull.

It is something that has been under a microscope at the joint Milton Keynes-Faenza outfits of late, in the wake of the decision to keep the under-performing Sergio Perez alongside Max Verstappen, despite the risk it poses to retaining the constructors' championship.

All Red Bull/RB drivers are centrally contracted and thus can be freely moved between the two operations. However, against the odds, it decided against rotating its line-ups for the final 10 rounds of the current campaign.

At the same time, it was confirmed that Daniel Ricciardo would see out the season at RB, putting to bed any lingering doubt that he would be sidelined for Liam Lawson this year.

With F2 championship leader Isack Hadjar also in the Red Bull stable, and the New Zealander pushing for a full-time drive, the pressure is mounting on its teams to get its driver pairings in order for 2025.

"As much as people like to think that it's one guy choosing the drivers, it's never like that, in no team - unless you own the team," Mekies told RacingNews365 in an exclusive interview.

"And even if you own the team, you probably have a team principal who wants to say something," he adds lightheartedly.

"Jokes aside, it's a group. We will be discussing with our bosses, with the shareholders, with the wider Red Bull family - because we are lucky to be part of the wider Red Bull family - in order to make the driver call."

Red Bull adviser Dr Helmut Marko is increasingly pushing for RB to return to its Toro Rosso roots as a junior team, despite its 2024 relaunch from AlphaTauri in part designed to bring an end to that set-up.

35-year-old Ricciardo, who has aspirations of a promotion back to the main team, has voiced his would-be discomfort if RB was to re-adopt its prior focus.

Under Marko's grand plans, the Australian would surely be at risk, and the 81-year-old has repeatedly spoken about Ricciardo's performances in the media.

However, Mekies maintains that no one person will be able to make a driver call, and confirms that "when the time is right" decisions will be made for next year.

"It's never going to be a single individual decision. But we will be discussing together, when the time is right, what we'll do with the second seat as a group," he explains.

"Again, [it is] up to the shareholders, probably like in any team. I think in probably every team the shareholders will be involved in such a decision, so that's our situation and I think there's only positives about it."