Red Bull 'not afraid' of rare solution to F1 driver dilemma

Christian Horner insists Red Bull "wouldn't be afraid of" turning to a driver outside its talent pool to solve its ongoing second seat crisis.

The team principal of the Milton Keynes squad was also quick to clarify, again, that Yuki Tsunoda will be graced with the remainder of the F1 season to "demonstrate he's the guy" to partner Max Verstappen - if the Dutchman stays put.

Red Bull's struggles over the past 18 months have unsettled the once-formidable pairing of the four-time F1 drivers' champion and his team, but its long-standing issue with its second seat has plagued it since Daniel Ricciardo departed for Renault at the end of 2018.

With Tsunoda looking more likely not to be retained at the end of the campaign than ever, who Red Bull could turn to is becoming increasingly pertinent.

Liam Lawson floundered in his two grands prix with the team at the beginning of the year, to the extent he was quickly replaced by the Japanese driver, and his Racing Bulls team-mate, Isack Hadjar, is just 11 rounds into his F1 career.

A quick promotion ultimately did not pay off with Alex Albon, and it certainly did not with the aforementioned New Zealander, so there are concerns the same process can bring a different outcome with the 20-year-old.

Nonetheless, Horner would rather keep things within the family.

"Obviously, our priority will be to look at what we have within our pool of talent," the 51-year-old told media, including RacingNews365.

"Yuki has got until the end of the season to demonstrate that he's the guy to remain in the car.

"We have Isack also doing a good job, and Liam finding his form as well. So, within the Red Bull pool, we have talent."

However, the Briton is not opposed to turning to a seldom-used solution to remedy the problem facing the six-time constructors' champions.

Only once in recent history has the team dipped outside its driver roster, when it signed Sergio Perez to replace Albon for the 2022 season.

Whilst the Mexican fared well initially, he underperformed over the final 18 months in the car alongside Verstappen, which culminated in him being relieved of his duties over the winter, despite holding a contract for the current campaign.

Although that will not dissuade Horner from trying that approach again, if he deems it necessary.

"But of course, you're always open to what is outside of that," he added. "We want to field the best line-up that we can for next year.

"We've gone outside of that pool in recent years. If we feel the necessity to do so, we wouldn't be afraid to do so again."