Red Bull is currently in talks with Carlos Sainz, who is leaving Ferrari, about potentially securing a Formula 1 seat for the 2025 season. The line-ups for Red Bull’s two F1 teams have been the subject of much speculation, with even Max Verstappen’s future at Red Bull Racing being questioned. The bigger unknowns, however, are who will be Verstappen’s teammate in 2025 and who will drive for Red Bull’s second team. Sergio Perez, the current Red Bull Racing driver, has made a strong case for being retained, but other contracted drivers such as Daniel Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda, and Liam Lawson are also contenders for the seat.
Ricciardo’s underwhelming performance against Tsunoda has shifted the focus to whether Ricciardo will keep his current seat, let alone challenge Perez. It was previously hinted that former Red Bull junior driver Sainz was being considered, but he currently has a lucrative offer from Audi, which Red Bull cannot match. Sainz has proven himself as a race winner at Ferrari and has performed well against his teammate Charles Leclerc. He also had a positive comparison to Verstappen when they were teammates at Toro Rosso in 2015. While there were tensions at Toro Rosso, they were more related to Verstappen’s father and Carlos Sainz Sr. rather than the drivers themselves.
There have been speculations that Sainz may join Mercedes and swap seats with Lewis Hamilton, but that is far from the truth. Sainz is looking for a long-term option, which Mercedes cannot offer due to its prodigy Kimi Antonelli already racing in Formula 2 and being the preferred choice for their 2025 vacancy. Red Bull also may not be able to provide the kind of security Sainz desires. Audi, despite struggling in the lower midfield, is widely considered Sainz’s likely destination. However, Sainz insists that all the vacancies are viable options and that he is positive about his future.
While Red Bull considers recruiting Sainz, they also have to consider Perez’s strong performance this season. Marko believes that Perez is the best option for the 2025 season if he continues to perform well. In the long term, Red Bull is interested in McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, but both are under contract until at least the end of 2026. Red Bull’s priority should be developing their own talent to fill their teams in the future, and finding Lawson a full-time F1 seat would help alleviate the problem in the short term. Marko has confirmed that Red Bull has promised Lawson a 2025 race seat after he served as a reserve driver this year.
Lawson performed strongly as Ricciardo’s substitute in five races last season, but Red Bull ultimately kept Ricciardo and Tsunoda in the second team. Marko is a fan of Lawson and wants to find him a seat as soon as possible. However, he has stated that Ricciardo needs to be clearly faster than Tsunoda to have a chance at a Red Bull seat. It is possible that there could be a mid-season change like the one that brought Ricciardo back last year, but it is a complex topic that requires further evaluation. It has been believed since last year that Lawson accepted the reserve driver role with the condition of getting a race seat in 2025. This means that Red Bull may have to drop at least one of its current drivers in the future, whether it be this year or for the 2025 season.