Schumacher names surprise contender Horner wanted for Red Bull seat

Ralf Schumacher has claimed that Red Bull boss Christian Horner actually favoured Franco Colapinto over Liam Lawson or Yuki Tsunoda.

Colapinto impressed during his nine-race stint after replacing Logan Sargeant at Williams in 2024, and was linked with a move into the Red Bull family, although no such move came off, with the Argentine instead signing as a reserve driver for Alpine. 

Lawson was called up to the senior squad but struggled during the opening two rounds, leading to his rapid exit ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.

With Tsunoda promoted in his place and becoming the third driver to partner Max Verstappen in four races, Schumacher has questioned the ongoing situation at Red Bull.

"You have to admit that Red Bull has disappeared into mediocrity," Schumacher told the  Backstage Boxengasse podcast. 

"Max Verstappen somehow always pulls the coals out of the fire and there are changes at the technical level, so you don't really know where it is going either, Pierre Waché seems a bit uncertain.”

Faced with the prospect of either promoting Tsunoda or Lawson at the end of 2024, six-time grand prix winner Schumacher believes Red Bull chief Horner actually favoured signing Colapinto.

"And then there is the disagreement about the drivers, because one thing was clear: Marko wanted to bring two drivers from Racing Bulls to Red Bull, which became Lawson and Tsunoda, but Christian Horner doesn't like either of them. 

"He wanted Colapinto, so, Dr Marko with his misjudgement regarding drivers is coming under a bit of pressure again, you could almost make a movie about it."