[Cyborg]

Breaking news: Perez out - Liam Lawson in.

As I mentioned a few posts earlier Perez has cost Red Bull prestige by making them lose the constructors championship which had to be game over for sure.



Cheers

[AtheK]

Liam lawson was pretty much behind tsunoda also, not sure how much will he be better then Perez. This might not benefit them much.

[nova.19_exe]

Sergio Perez officially part ways from Red Bull. Red Bull will now be looking for someone to fill into Perez's seat

www.instagram.com/p/DDujdBshmVR/?igsh=MzlydjhrOWc1MXVm

[Thalla]

Red Bull has confirmed that Liam Lawson is to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull Racing in 2025 season.

[Omkar]

Driver lineup so far. Only one seat in the Red Bull junior team remains.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by nova.19_exe

Sergio Perez officially part ways from Red Bull. Red Bull will now be looking for someone to fill into Perez's seat

The debt is paid, and goodbye Checo.
To what lengths are Hornr and Marko willing to go, to avoid putting anyone even half competitive in the RB seat? Even further to not put Tsunoda there?

At one point this year, the drivers market was so ripe to even take on Sainz. But no.

[volkman10]

This is what's next!

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by mayankk

...To what lengths are Hornr and Marko willing to go, to avoid putting anyone even half competitive in the RB seat? Even further to not put Tsunoda there?

At one point this year, the drivers market was so ripe to even take on Sainz. But no.

Tsunoda was never going to get that seat. He was at the sister team purely because of the Red Bull Honda deal. Since that is set to dissolve in a year, it makes no sense to put Tsunoda in that second seat.

Plus, Lawson was on the pace and right up there with Tsunoda despite having competed in just 11 races, while Yuki has taken an awful long time to improve - 4 years to be precise.

Sainz not getting considered for the 2nd seat is a shame, and was also due to their strained relationship during their Toro Rosso days. Remember - both drivers come from racing families with legacies. It simply wouldn't have worked.

[RM Motorsports]

2025 grid is finally complete. Mclaren & Ferrari have a strong lineup. 6 rookies with full time drive. Who will be the most consistent ? Can't wait for 2025 season.

[SidTheChamp]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Tsunoda was never going to get that seat. He was at the sister team purely because of the Red Bull Honda deal. Since that is set to dissolve in a year, it makes no sense to put Tsunoda in that second seat.

Plus, Lawson was on the pace and right up there with Tsunoda despite having competed in just 11 races, while Yuki has taken an awful long time to improve - 4 years to be precise.

Tsunoda's case is a strange one. He outperformed Ricciardo thoroughly in the Racing Bulls set. Because Danny Ric was beaten solidly by Tsunoda, he couldn't be considered for Red Bull seat and was shown the door.

Tsunoda also scored more points than Lawson in the races they did together. Though Tsunoda is quick as you said he was never going to get that RB seat. His hot temper and angry outbursts on radio are the primary blocker. RedBull mgmt wont risk an angry second driver to Max. And a smaller reason could be that Liam Lawson is more marketable to western world.

4 RedBull family drivers were in contention of that seat. And at the end Liam Lawson who raced the least got it. His patience paid off finally.

Sainz not getting considered for the 2nd seat is a shame, and was also due to their strained relationship during their Toro Rosso days. Remember - both drivers come from racing families with legacies. It simply wouldn't have worked.

This was never on cards after their previous history at Toro Rosso. RedBull would never bring a teammate who can be a threat to Verstappen himself.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by SidTheChamp

This was never on cards after their previous history at Toro Rosso. RedBull would never bring a teammate who can be a threat to Verstappen himself.

I don’t think it’s anything to do with bringing a team mate who can be a threat. It just doesn’t make sense to have two alpha drivers in the same team. It never ends well. Exactly why MSC and Rubens / Lewis and Bottas pairings worked very well. Not to say that Tsunoda was sidelined because he is alpha, he took 4 years to achieve what Lawson has managed in 11 races.

Either way, Verstappen will come out on top, in a straight head to head, but it’s unnecessary stress that Red Bull would rather not deal with.

[SidTheChamp]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

I don’t think it’s anything to do with bringing a team mate who can be a threat. It just doesn’t make sense to have two alpha drivers in the same team. It never ends well. Exactly why MSC and Rubens / Lewis and Bottas pairings worked very well. Not to say that Tsunoda was sidelined because he is alpha, he took 4 years to achieve what Lawson has managed in 11 races.

I actually meant the same thing. No F1 team would knowingly bring two drivers together who may fight i.e both alpha and neither would budge. Prost-Senna, Lewis-Alonso, Lewis-Rosberg history is full of bitter teammate wars which created such headache for team principal and mgmt. Max and Sainz have fought before so that was a strict no no from RedBull

Interesting to note that RedBull was interested to bring 'Max's buddy' Lando Norris as his teammate in the beginning of 2024 for coming years. Norris smartly declined as he knew he won't get equal treatment in RB.

[StarrySky]

There was an interview with Horner on Sky Sports during the Singapore GP, where he said (talking about Lawson) "We are not quite sure, looking at Colapinto, Bearman, Antonelli, is he at that level, we don't know". Keep in mind that Colapinto and Bearman had done perhaps a couple of races at that time and Antonelli 0, while Lawson had already done 5 races for them in 2023.

Further while talking about possibly replacing Ricciardo with Lawson, Horner said, "The question is how good is Liam, and sometimes difficult decisions have to be made to get the answers".

It's hardly a ringing endorsement of a driver who they have had with them since 2019.

So I don't think RedBull themselves really believe Liam Lawson is an incredible talent. He is in the RedBull because (a) Ricciardo, who they originally brought in as back-up for Perez did not rise to expectations and (b) for some reason (maybe the Honda connection), they don't want to put Tsunoda in the RedBull.

It would've been so much better for RedBull if Lawson had been clearly better than Tsunoda during their 11 races together. But no, so RedBull are having to talk about his "trajectory" and "mental fortitude".

I think Lawson was more impressive in his short appearance in the RB junior team in 2023. In 2024, he knew he had a possible shot at a seat in the senior RB team if he did well. Maybe the pressure got to him, but he made news more for his clashes with Perez and Alonso than his driving. A sign of mental fortitude?

To Lawson's advantage, the bar has been set so low by Perez in the latter half of 2024 that even if he makes it to Q3 and scores half as many points as Max in 2025, it will be an improvement.

Perhaps the 2025 RedBull will suit Lawson and he will surprise everyone, but I am not holding my breath.

[HondaSport]

I think Lewis going to Ferrari will make the team pretty competitive in 2025. In the last couple of years, the team has always shown the potential to be winning races but then inexplicably lose momentum after a couple of races.

By signing Lewis, they will now have a driver who will push the team to do more.

Wishful thinking?

[Thalla]

Originally Posted by SidTheChamp

Tsunoda's case is a strange one. He outperformed Ricciardo thoroughly in the Racing Bulls set. Because Danny Ric was beaten solidly by Tsunoda, he couldn't be considered for Red Bull seat and was shown the door.

Tsunoda also scored more points than Lawson in the races they did together. Though Tsunoda is quick as you said he was never going to get that RB seat. His hot temper and angry outbursts on radio are the primary blocker. RedBull mgmt wont risk an angry second driver to Max. And a smaller reason could be that Liam Lawson is more marketable to western world.

4 RedBull family drivers were in contention of that seat. And at the end Liam Lawson who raced the least got it. His patience paid off finally.


This was never on cards after their previous history at Toro Rosso. RedBull would never bring a teammate who can be a threat to Verstappen himself.

It doesn't seem fair that Yuki wasn't considered as Checo's replacement at Red Bull. He was certainly more deserving driver than Liam to get this seat.