Hadjar and Lawson Emerge as Red Bull’s Future Stars

Dec.5 - Red Bull's driver plans for 2025 are starting to become clear.

First, despite his protestations to the contrary, Sergio Perez looks set to lose his seat as Max Verstappen's teammate. The Mexican arms of ESPN and Fox Sports are both citing "sources" who claim the team will allow Perez, 34, to publicly 'retire' rather than be ousted.

Another rumour suggests Perez is being given a choice - voluntarily retire and be retained as an ambassador and reserve driver, or receive a termination fee and be ousted altogether.

"We all have a lot of respect and appreciation for Checo, but right now it's a tough situation for him and for the team," said team boss Christian Horner.

"Nobody is forcing him to do anything, but it's certainly not a comfortable situation for him. What happens next is all hypothetical, but we'll see where we are after Abu Dhabi."

The next question is who will replace him. Both Horner and team advisor Dr Helmut Marko have been playing down rumours Franco Colapinto could be an option.

"We are going to choose from our own pool of drivers," Marko said.

And for Perez's seat at Red Bull Racing, that will mean a promotion for one of the RB drivers - Liam Lawson, supposedly the favourite, or Yuki Tsunoda.

Playing against Tsunoda is his backing by Honda, who will depart for Aston Martin after 2025. The team also has concerns about his character and inconsistency.

Marko seems to clearly favour New Zealand rookie Lawson, 22.

"Lawson reminds me of Bruce McLaren or Denny Hulme - down-to-earth and mentally strong," the Austrian is quoted as saying by Auto Motor und Sport.

"Yuki is extremely fast, but not consistent. And he is rather undisciplined for a Japanese, although that has improved."

RB CEO Peter Bayer seems to agree that Tsunoda, two years older than Lawson and with four F1 seasons under his belt, is "very instinctive" with "incredible basic speed", but "he fluctuates a bit more than Liam".

"Liam is very analytical," Bayer added. "He is very calm on the radio and spends a lot of time looking at the data and implementing it with the engineers.

"Yuki has made a huge step since last year, both physically and mentally," he continued. "You can see that he is on his way to the peak of his abilities. I think he is an important part of this team.

"I definitely think he is ready (for Red Bull Racing). Sometimes it might still be difficult for him to control his emotions, but I think it's his last little mistake. Everything else, I would say, makes him one of the best drivers on the grid.

"I think if the opportunity comes, Yuki, like Liam ... they're both up for the challenge, to be honest."

Whether it's Lawson or Tsunoda who gets the nod, it is becoming very clear that the vacant cockpit at RB will be filled by French-Algerian rookie Isack Hadjar.

"Obviously, I'm next on the list. It's just a fact," said the 20-year-old.

When asked if he can begin to talk about his step up to Formula 1 for 2025, Hadjar added: "I mean, it's obviously not confirmed. So of course I can't say anything.

"I can't tell you what I'm doing next year because it's not official yet."

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