Red Bull talent vying for seat next to Verstappen

Red Bull has confirmed that Sergio Perez will complete the remainder of the current season, despite significant speculation that he was set to be axed during the summer break. 

Perez has held Red Bull back this season and has left Max Verstappen to fight for the constructors' championship alone, with the team boasting a slim 42-point lead over McLaren.

The Mexican driver signed a new 1+1 contract earlier in the season keeping him with Red Bull for 2025, with an option for 2026; however, the deal had performance clauses related to this season, which Perez has already broken. 

Despite this, Red Bull has put its faith in the driver to complete the campaign, although what will happen next season is currently unknown. 

Red Bull has a big decision on its hands and plenty of young drivers in its family to choose from, who are all vying to replace Perez and partner Verstappen. RacingNews365 lists them.

Yuki Tsunoda

One of the drivers who has been openly chasing promotion within Red Bull for some time is Yuki Tsunoda. In his first two years in F1 the Japanese driver struggled, but has improved considerably since the start of last year. 

He first managed to beat Nyck de Vries convincingly, and has since been outperforming Daniel Ricciardo on a regular basis. Despite this, Tsunoda's name is almost never mentioned for a step up.

Why that is the case is hard to say. The names of Ricciardo and Liam Lawson are always mentioned before Tsunoda. 

In any case, it cannot be down to the Japanese driver's performance, as he has scored points in half of the races this season. As a result, he is currently 12th in the drivers' standings. 

So on the track, Tsunoda is showing the maximum and he is therefore aiming for the seat next to Verstappen.

Liam Lawson

A name that is more frequently mentioned at Red Bull is that of Lawson. The New Zealander has experience in F1 through his stand-in appearances last season whilst Ricciardo was injured.

Some felt Lawson had done enough to gain the RB seat full-time, although Ricciardo was given the seat for this year. Despite this, Lawson continues to knock on the Faenza-based team's door.

Lawson is also knocking on Red Bull's door, not just the sister team's. He attends each race as its reserve driver and conducts work in the simulator.

Crucially, there is a clause in his contract which allows him to explore options away from Red Bull, should he not be offered a seat for next season by them.

The deadline for that runs until September, so there will be clarity about his future within the Red Bull family soon. It is a second question whether he will be allowed to join the main squad right away.

Ayumu Iwasa, Isack Hadjar & Arvid Lindblad

Who is not so often mentioned in the whole discussion surrounding the seats at Red Bull and RB is Ayumu Iwasa. The Japanese driver stepped in at RB during his home race earlier this year to make his first official free practice appearance in F1. 

How likely it is that he will get a seat at all in F1 is difficult to say, as Red Bull already has Lawson on the reserve bench. Moreover, there are still a number of talents coming.

For example, there is Isack Hadjar. The Frenchman comfortably leads the Formula 2 championship with four races to go. He too was offered a practice session earlier this year, but for Red Bull rather than RB.

Team boss Christian Horner was at least pleased with Hadjar's performance. To drive right alongside Verstappen seems too big a step at the moment, but he will no doubt dream of doing so.

Maybe the biggest talent in Red Bull's junior programme is Arvid Lindblad. The Brit currently ranks fourth in the F3 championship and managed to win both the sprint and main races in Silverstone. 

Because of Lindblad, Red Bull even asked for an adjustment to the so-called 'Verstappen rule', to lower the minimum age to enter F1. This would allow the Briton to make a possible debut in a few days, on August 8th.

 If and when that will happen, we will have to wait and see. In any case, it does show that Red Bull has a lot of confidence in Lindblad.