Former F1 driver Gerhard Berger has a strong connection with both Red Bull teams.
Although Berger retired from racing in Formula 1 before Red Bull’s debut in 2005, he was a part-owner of the Toro Rosso team when they took over Minardi the following year.
Red Bull bought out Berger’s 50% stake in the team at the end of the 2008 season, but he had already helped the Austrian entity’s junior outfit achieve some remarkable results.
Although their original drivers Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed only scored a single point during their debut campaign, they helped develop Sebastian Vettel into the four-time world champion he became.
David Coulthard disagreed with Toro Rosso’s existence, but that may be partly because he witnessed Vettel win the 2008 Italian Grand Prix under Berger’s leadership, while the main Red Bull team were still searching for their first victory.
Nearly 20 years on from Toro Rosso’s first season, the team have changed names on several occasions and will line up as Racing Bulls with Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar at the wheel.
That’s because over the winter, Red Bull confirmed the exit of Sergio Perez from the team after a disappointing 2024 campaign.
Liam Lawson was promoted in his place, but in an interview with Auto Motor und Sport, Berger suggested he would have chosen another driver to partner Max Verstappen this year.
Gerhard Berger admits he would have replaced Sergio Perez with Carlos Sainz
Asked who he would have placed alongside Verstappen in 2025, Berger explained: “There is probably no one who can really give him a run for his money.
“But I would definitely have taken Carlos Sainz.
“Even though I don’t think it’s a bad thing that they’ve put Lawson next to Max, although it might have been better for the young lad to gain more experience at Toro Rosso first.
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“I already liked Lawson in the DTM. He was faster and more aggressive than Albon, and Albon is doing a good job at Williams.
“That’s why I recommended Helmut [Marko] to have a look at him. I think Verstappen and Lawson could be a good pairing.”
Gerhard Berger thinks Max Verstappen is unstoppable heading into the 2025 F1 season
Sainz signed an £8.5m-a-year contract to join Williams last year after losing his Ferrari seat to Lewis Hamilton but would have been an available option to team principal Christian Horner if he was interested.
However, there were concerns about Verstappen and Sainz being teammates after their camps didn’t always see eye-to-eye during their time together at Toro Rosso at the beginning of their F1 careers.
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Berger was asked if anyone would be able to keep up with Verstappen in the second Red Bull this year and admitted: “Verstappen is the best driver, no question about it.
“But before that, the best driver was in the best team. In the meantime, however, Max is pulling the coals out of the fire.
“Now it will be exciting to see whether Red Bull can return to its former strength or whether Verstappen continues to have difficulties winning. Then he will have to think about whether he is still in the right team.”
The expectations for Red Bull in 2025 would be very different if they had signed Sainz over Lawson.
Instead of the pressure being on Verstappen to succeed while the 23-year-old gets up to speed, they would instead have two race-winning drivers who would be pushing Red Bull to win the constructors’ championships.
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