Red Bull had stability in their Formula 1 driver line-up for years. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were teammates for four consecutive seasons between 2021 and 2024.
That followed an initial period of tumult when Daniel Ricciardo surprisingly left for Renault. Pierre Gasly lasted just half a season, and Alex Albon was gone after 18 months.
Perez was almost never on Verstappen’s level but he was broadly a dependable team player for his first three years. Unfortunately for Red Bull, he unravelled in 2024, and they felt they had to remove him despite initially handing him a new deal.
| RANK | DRIVER | RACES | PTS |
| 1 | Daniel Ricciardo | 100 | 956 |
| 2 | Sergio Perez | 90 | 932 |
| 3 | Alex Albon | 26 | 181 |
| 4 | Pierre Gasly | 12 | 63 |
| 5 | Yuki Tsunoda | 7 | 7 |
| 6 | Liam Lawson | 2 | 0 |
Having broken with tradition to sign free agent Perez, they returned to their policy of promoting from within. Liam Lawson got the call-up from Racing Bulls, but nobody could have anticipated what happened next.
Red Bull were so alarmed by Lawson’s struggles that they dropped him back to the sister team within two races. Yuki Tsunoda, initially snubbed, benefited from the remarkable swap.
Christian Horner may feel he has no choice but to promote Isack Hadjar – despite his protests
While Tsunoda has been an improvement on Lawson, his results are reminiscent of a latter-day Perez. Ahead of his eighth race with Red Bull at the Canadian Grand Prix, he sits 15th in the championship on just 10 points.
Damningly, that ranks him six places below former teammate Isack Hadjar, who’s scored more than double the points. The F2 graduate has been one of the great revelations of the 2025 season.
Hadjar has been called the standout rookie on the grid, intensifying speculation that he could move up to Red Bull. However, the Frenchman said himself he doesn’t feel ‘ready’ at present.
Hadjar earns £800k a year at his current team, one of the smaller salaries on the grid and would be in line for a handsome pay rise if he were to step up. But he sounded extremely cautious when the prospect came up on Thursday.
According to The Race, this may not matter. If Red Bull let Tsunoda go – and he’s out of contract at the end of the year – then they’re still ‘most likely’ to turn to Hadjar.
The feeling is that the hands of Christian Horner and Helmut Marko will be ‘forced’. They recognise the risk, but they don’t necessarily have a better option on the table.
Alex Albon explains why Yuki Tsunoda is struggling at Red Bull
The direction of travel, based on a report this week, is a Verstappen/Hadjar line-up at Red Bull next year. Lawson could stay at Racing Bulls next to F2 high-flyer Arvid Lindblad.
Hadjar is clearly an exciting talent, but numerous other drivers have been given that label before crumbling next to Verstappen. Perhaps the team need to reconsider their blueprint.
Ironically, some of the most exciting external options used to be on their books. That list includes Albon, who has been fantastic for Williams this season.
Albon believes he could now cope with the Red Bull and its unique handling characteristics. He thinks Tsunoda is having trouble because the car doesn’t feel ‘natural’ to drive, but it’s difficult to say how long it will take to overcome that issue, or whether he can at all.
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