Red Bull had plenty of options when it came to deciding who to replace Sergio Perez with after a disastrous 2024 season.
They have now picked Liam Lawson to do one of the trickiest jobs in Formula 1 and line up alongside Max Verstappen in 2025.
Verstappen said the most important thing Perez did at Red Bull was help him win his first Drivers’ Championship back in 2021.
The team snubbed Yuki Tsunoda for the position after he beat Lawson 6-0 in qualifying as teammates during the final part of the 2024 season.
It leaves the Japanese driver staring at the prospect of a fifth consecutive season with the Visa Cash App RB team and with little hope of a promotion unless something dramatic happens.
Perez could move to a new series after his Red Bull sacking but might want to use his time off to recharge his batteries and go again in 2026 with a new team.
Pierre Gasly felt he ‘deserved’ another chance at Red Bull
After being brutally dropped from Red Bull in 2019, Pierre Gasly went on to enjoy one of his best stretches as a Formula 1 driver.
His 2020 season for AlphaTauri, which included a landmark victory at the Italian Grand Prix, helped him rebuild his confidence after a damaging stint with the senior team.
READ MORE: Why Pierre Gasly had a ‘reputation for being difficult’ within Red Bull before Helmut Marko sacked him
He continued to drive at a high level but was never considered for a return – something which he told Netflix’s Drive to Survive in 2020 (Season three, Episode six) that he felt was warranted.
“Last year [2019] was probably the hardest moment of my life,” he said.” I had the Red Bull demotion. I got moved from Red Bull to Toro Rosso.
“It was a really horrible and difficult time to go through. Yeah, of course, I got a lot of shit. I deserve to go back to Red Bull and that’s the target – that’s clear.”
Will Pierre Gasly ever compete for a Formula 1 championship?
There are two ways that Gasly could find himself in contention for a Drivers’ Championship at some point over the rest of his career.
The first option would be to leave Alpine and join a current top team – someone who can guarantee that they will give him a race-winning car.
The definition of that could change with the 2026 F1 regulations so he might have to wait a while before making that sort of move.
READ MORE: What Red Bull said before sacking Pierre Gasly in 2019 that should worry Sergio Perez
A second option would be to wait for the French outfit to make their way to the front of the field (with no guarantee of that) over the next few years.
They were on a par with McLaren a few years ago and they just managed to end a 16-year title drought, so what’s to stop them from achieving the same thing?
