There is less and less time to know the future of the Racing Bulls team. Or rather, that of its second driver. Confirmed and announced several weeks ago Yuki Tsunoda after a more than good season, the attention has shifted to who will be his teammate for 2025.
It has been clear for some time now that Liam Lawson will be the starter next season. Helmut Marko announced it several times this summer and so it will be. It remains to be seen where he will be the starter, although all the signs point to him being the one to join Tsunoda at Racing Bulls.
Meanwhile, the Red Bull Racing super consultant confirmed what he had already said in August, that is, that in September Racing Bulls would have resolved its reservations on the name of the driver who will race alongside Tsunoda next season.
“We will announce Liam Lawson’s future in September,” Marko said at the end of August. “He will definitely be a regular in our cars next year.”
Over the weekend just ended, the one in which the Azerbaijan Grand Prix took place on the Baku track, Marko gave further details regarding the next Racing Bulls driver.
“The second Racing Bulls driver will be announced after Singapore. Between Singapore and Austin, not during the Texan weekend, but before,” reiterated the former Austrian driver.
Liam Lawson, Reserve Driver, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
So we will have to wait another week to find out if Liam Lawson will be alongside Tsunoda. However, this is the most likely and credible scenario, which would shift the attention to Sergio Perez (once again) and Daniel Ricciardo.
On paper, Ricciardo would be left out, remaining without a seat for next season and with Ayumu Iwasa already confirmed by Marko as Racing Bulls’ reserve driver for 2025 while also taking up Super Formula duty with the Mugen team.
Yet Sergio Perez’s seat at Red Bull Racing continues to burn. Saved at the beginning of August for contractual, sponsor and image reasons, with the Mexican Grand Prix still to be held, Checo may not be safe yet.
The good performances in Baku – a track he has always loved and where he has always been strong – gave him a break, but the zero points he brought home did not help him as much as he would have liked. Furthermore, he will have to confirm the step forward seen in Azerbaijan, otherwise he will have been just a swallow incapable of making a spring.
Daniel Ricciardo will also be forced to demonstrate consistency and results. Perez’s eventual debacle will not be enough to get him back behind the wheel of a Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen: he will have to confirm that he can be more useful to the cause than the Mexican and, as of today, in Milton Keynes there are more question marks than certainties.
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