Max Verstappen has a new teammate for the 2025 Formula 1 season as Liam Lawson replaces Sergio Perez, but Tom Kristensen feels Red Bull rejected the ‘perfect’ option.
Enough was enough for the Milton Keynes outfit once Perez cost Red Bull the defence of the F1 constructors’ championship last year. While Verstappen still won his fourth drivers’ title in a row, the Mexican’s miserable season meant McLaren and Ferrari could both jump Red Bull.
Perez scored a mere 152 points from 22 Grands Prix and six F1 Sprint events to claim eighth in the F1 drivers’ championship. Verstappen won the title again with 437 points. So, Red Bull terminated Perez’s contract for the 2025 F1 season and promoted Lawson from Racing Bulls.
Carlos Sainz was the ‘perfect’ Sergio Perez replacement for Red Bull, not Liam Lawson
Yet while Red Bull have backed another graduate of their driver academy as Lawson steps up from their junior team Racing Bulls, nine-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Kristensen claims they rejected the ‘perfect’ replacement for Perez to do so in new Williams pilot Carlos Sainz.
Sainz was on the market for the 2025 F1 grid as Ferrari opted against offering the 30-year-old a new contract to sign Lewis Hamilton. So, the Spaniard slipped down the grid to stay on it with Sainz signing an £8.5m-a-year contract with Williams after Red Bull rejected a pursuit.
Kristensen has told RacingNews365: “Of course, looking back a perfect fit not a year ago but nearly would have been Carlos Sainz. He would have been a perfect fit.
READ MORE: Williams driver Carlos Sainz’s life outside F1 from full name, girlfriend and height
“But as we all know, the world is not perfect and there’s politics, there’s influence and in that sense, I think they have ended up with the right guy, with the right potential.”
Yet while Kristensen thinks Sainz would be ‘perfect’ for Red Bull, the Dane also feels Lawson is a ‘good fit’ to replace Perez. But the 23-year-old still has a lot to prove, having only started 11 Grand Prix so far and occasionally struggled fighting with Yuki Tsunoda for Racing Bulls.
Kristensen noted: “I think he’s a good fit for it, and he seems like a strong and confident little guy. But we will see how [he performs] when he comes under the skin, which we have seen sometimes when he has been sort of fighting to impress Red Bull over Yuki Tsunoda.
“There have been a little bit of cracks in there but I look forward to see it unfold. And I think Red Bull have made the right choice after they didn’t choose who I believe would have been the perfect fit.”
Helmut Marko blocked Carlos Sainz joining Red Bull despite Christian Horner’s support
Red Bull ultimately cost themselves a chance to sign Sainz after they gave Perez a contract extension for the 2025 F1 season last June. He took that rejection to get a seat elsewhere to stay in Formula 1 with Red Bull only releasing Perez after the 2024 campaign had concluded.
There was some support in Milton Keynes for them taking advantage of Ferrari releasing the four-time Grand Prix winner, though, including from team principal Christian Horner. Yet Red Bull rejected Sainz to keep Verstappen happy as they clashed as teammates at Toro Rosso.
Motorsport advisor Helmut Marko was firmly against Red Bull signing Sainz, as well, after he sought to leave their driver stable entirely when it became clear to the six-time pole winner that he did not have a route from Toro Rosso up to the team before joining Renault in 2017.
Now, Lawson will be Verstappen’s No2 in 2025 as the Dutchman bids to win a fifth title in as many seasons. Meanwhile, Sainz will help Alex Albon shape Williams as the Grove squad try to get everything ready ahead of F1’s 2026 engine and chassis regulations coming into force.
Leave feedback about this