Racing Bulls Announced in Singapore. But Marko Already Thinking of the “New Verstappen”

Racing Bulls and Sauber Last Seats Empty in F1

The move by Mercedes, which announced in Monza the official arrival of Andrea Kimi Antonelli in place of Lewis Hamilton, has effectively put an end to the intrigues of a drivers’ market that has been decidedly explosive this year. An end, or almost, because in reality after Toto Wolff’s choice to entrust the 18-year-old from Bologna with the wheel of the W16, the Sauber seat still remains to be assigned – with a head-to-head between Gabriel Bortoleto and Valtteri Bottas – and that of Racing Bulls. Interviewed by Dutch TV Viaplay over the weekend in Baku, Helmut Marko has however given precise indications at least regarding the timing of the decision of Yuki Tsunoda’s partner for 2025.

Lawson or Ricciardo? Marko Speaks

The Red Bull consultant as well deus ex machina of the Junior Team of the Milton Keynes team has in fact revealed that a decision will have to wait until next weekend, when Formula 1 will start its engines on the Marina Bay street circuit: “We already have a pretty clear idea, but let’s wait for the Singapore weekend. There will be a complete picture of our situation.”. A cryptic phrase, which does not clarify who will win the challenge that seems narrow between Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson, despite Marko himself having already said several times in the recent past that the young New Zealander will race in F1 in 2025: “Lawson? Let’s wait until after Singapore…”, he added smiling.

Is there (already) a new Verstappen?

Beyond the immediate choices, the former Austrian driver also commented on the recent announcement of the new faces of the Red Bull Junior Team, which added to the previously selected Fionn McLaughlin and Scott Lindblom, four new talents between 13 and 16 years old: the Lebanese Christopher Feghali, the Frenchman Jules Caranta, the Mexican Ernesto Rivera and the Dutchman Rocco Coronel. Son of touring car and GT driver Tom Coronel, Rocco himself seems to be one of the brightest prospects to the point of being compared to none other than Verstappen. “We were very surprised by him, he is only 13 years old – said Marko – and so he’s younger than Max was when we started with him. But he’s already very mature, very confident and a pretty authoritarian father. It seems to be a typical Dutch thing and who knows, maybe when Max retires we will already have his successor…”.