Why Red Bull will ‘never’ again approach five-podium driver to partner Max Verstappen

Red Bull are choosing between three candidates to partner Max Verstappen in 2025. The incumbent Sergio Perez faces competition from RB duo Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda.

The expectation is that Red Bull will let Perez go even though they gave him a new deal in June. He just about survived beyond the summer break, and his future has been the source of near-relentless speculation since.

The Bulls have effectively been out of sync with this year’s driver market. The timing of Perez’s renewal took numerous options off the table.

And while they’re now ready to replace him, virtually all of the external options have signed contracts elsewhere. If Christian Horner could undo the offer he made to Perez, he surely would.

Lawson and Tsunoda are talented young drivers but there are major questions around both. First, the New Zealander has only started 11 races across two short stints with the junior team.

And second, Helmut Marko has questioned the ‘stability’ of Tsunoda, who has shown impressive speed but also been erratic at times. Few would have argued at the start of the 2024 season that these were the best two drivers available to Red Bull.

Red Bull reunion with Pierre Gasly ruled out despite ‘fantastic’ form

One of the most attractive options in the midfield is Pierre Gasly. The Alpine driver was quietly one of the stars of the season, finishing 10th in the standings with a mighty late surge.

Gasly joined Esteban Ocon on the podium in a transformative Sao Paulo GP for Alpine, but while his teammate’s campaign petered out into an early exit, he maintained his momentum. He qualified third for the Las Vegas GP, scored an excellent P5 in Qatar and then took P7 in Abu Dhabi.

Gasly was available this year ahead of the expiry of his contract. But after being passed up by the frontrunners, he ultimately signed a multi-year extension.

A product of the Red Bull driver programme, he raced for the team in the first half of 2019 before abruptly losing his seat. Former F1 driver Giedo van der Garde doesn’t think either party will be interested in a reunion.

Speaking on De Race Show, he said: “They will never do that. They will never do that. Gasly is a good fit for Alpine. He certainly doesn’t want to touch Max Verstappen, because he will be destroyed. He won’t do that. He’s in a fantastic position.”

Pierre Gasly may still be hurt by Red Bull’s broken promises in 2019

1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill says Gasly was the ‘best’ pound-for-pound driver on the grid this year. He nearly doubled Ocon’s points tally (42 vs 23) and finished four spots ahead.

It’s hard to imagine any driver finishing higher than 10th in this year’s Alpine, even Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton. That’s a sign that this is the most complete version of Gasly yet.

But the reality is that Horner won’t want to risk a repeat of what happened five years ago. The Frenchman scored 63 points to Verstappen’s 181 before his demotion to what was then Toro Rosso.

Red Bull assured Gasly they’d be patient, but broke their promise by drafting in Alex Albon. The Thai driver didn’t offer a marked improvement, and many would say the same for Perez too.