The topsy turvy world of Formula One is set for another season of significant change. With thirteen drivers out of contract this year and a gaggle of young guns ready for their chance in the sport, the grid for 2025 should look significantly different from how it does right now.

Red Bull advisor Dr. Helmut Marko has already said that Liam Lawson will have a drive for 2025, ‘if not before’ he then teased given Red Bull’s predisposition to ditch drivers mid-season. 

 

 

 

Will Max stay or go?

Whilst Max Verstappen has a contract until 2028, the recent turmoil surrounding the Red Bull team saw him intimate in Jeddah, that there are scenarios which would see the Dutch world champion leave Red Bull before the end of his current deal.

Under the threat of losing his star driver, Christian Horner’s response was swift and to the point. The Red Bull principal stated he would never use “a piece of paper”  to keep a team employee longer than they want to remain with the Milton Keynes based squad. Further he put Max on notice that “nobody is bigger than the team.”

Max father Jos had publicly called for Horner to step aside from his team boss role, criticising Christian for “tearing the team apart.” Since his sensational outbursts in Bahrain, Jos has been conspicuous by his absence from the Red Bull garage at both the Saudi and Australian GP weekends.

Whether Jos is unwelcome at the Red Bull trackside venues or has just been doing his own thing isn’t clear at present. Yet should the Horner rift continue between the two, the threat that Max will look elsewhere becomes ever more a reality.

Marko admits Max wouldn’t have won anyway

 

 

 

Perez’s time is up

Toto Wolff has already made is crystal clear, if available Max Verstappen is the top of his list to replace their outgoing seven times world champion driver Lewis Hamilton. Yet the Mercedes era of dominance is well an truly over and their third attempt at a ground effect car in the W15 is currently battling for the honour of the fifth fastest car on the current F1 grid.

In all probability Max will know which side his bread is buttered and stay with Red Bull, though after four years of trailing in the shadows of the Dutch master, team mate Sergio Perez’s future is yet in doubt.

The Mexican started this year well, but coming home second to Max in the opening races before struggling to make an impact during the last race in Australia. Perez knows his job is to pick up the pieces when Max fails, something he struggled to do in a driver error littered season last year.

If the hierarchy at Red Bull decided after four years its time for a fresh pair of eyes, then the seat alongside Verstappen will become the hottest property in Formula One.

Red Bull turmoil around sacking Daniel Ricciardo

 

 

 

Alonso v Max is “box office”

A whole host of drivers would love to challenge themselves against Max who is currently the best in the world by some margin, particularly Fernando Alonso who would crave one last tilt at a drivers’ title in a championship capable winning car.

However, whilst this might irk Verstappen given Alonso is not the shy and retiring kind of team mate, Max would probably see this selection as one where he can demonstrate his superiority over Fernando – who many believe is still one of the great drivers but in a car unworthy of his talents.

Of course Carlos Sainz has made way for Hamilton at Ferrari and as the only non-Red Bull driver to win an F1 Grand Prix since 2022, his star is in the ascendancy. Former Ferrari engineer and Dutch F1 commentator, Ernest Knoors believes Red Bull recruiting Sainz could have a number of benefits.

“I think this is a very interesting one,” Knoors tells the Dutch edition of Motorsport.com.

Spanish media slam Hamilton and Ferrari hierarchy

 

 

 

Horner has the last say

“I think you also have to see this a bit in Christian Horner and the power struggle with Helmut Marko, and Red Bull Thailand and Red Bull Austria.

“If Christian feels Max Verstappen and Jos Verstappen and camp Helmut Marko are putting a bit of pressure on him, then you could say: ‘Well, someone like Carlos Sainz. If I bring that in, then I have someone with whom I can potentially become champion.’”

Of course Sainz and Verstappen have a history as team mates during the Toro Rosso days. Max came into the sport at 17 years of age given a drive in the Red Bull junior team alongside Carlos Sainz in 2015.

The Spaniard had the previous season claimed the Renault 3.5 European title and had been part of the red Bull young driver programme for six years. Max had rejected a Mercedes offer and only joined the Red Bull junior driver programme when he debuted in FP1 for Jean-Eric Vergne at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, late in the year.

Horner plots Alonso snub for Verstappen

 

 

 

Sainz/Verstappen history “toxic” says Marko

Sainz and Verstappen’s time together was fraught as Dr. Helmut Marko recently described: “The atmosphere between the two at Toro Rosso was quite toxic. In the set-up we had at the time, I couldn’t see a way of keeping him with us and so he moved to Renault, McLaren and then on to Ferrari.”

Marko praised Sainz for his efforts despite many believing he was another rich kid beneficiary of of his father’s fame and fortune as a Rally World champion.

“For a long time he [Sainz] lived in the shadow of his father [Carlos Sainz Snr], the two-time world rally champion. He was unfairly saddled with the image of being the spoiled son of a racing driver whereas, on the contrary, Carlos had to fight consistently to get ahead,” Marko revealed.

When Max was promoted to the Red Bull team at Daniel Kvyat’s expense just four round into the 2016 season, there was shock in certain quarters of the paddock who felt Carlos Sainz had been overlooked.

Perez breaks silence on Verstappen “exit clause”

 

 

 

Sainz missed out due to Max

“There was an outcry because some felt Carlos had been overlooked,” Marko added. “His development was also very good and the difference between the two was often very minimal, but despite having less experience Max was the faster driver, hence our decision to move him to Red Bull Racing.”

Whilst Sainz has always played down there being a poor relationship between himself and Max during that year, clearly something was not right between the two of them. Now Sainz will have completed a four year stint with Ferrari and comes to his next role as a proven Grand Prix winner.

Whilst Ferrari often appear to favour Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz is there to pick up the pieces when his less reliable Monegasque team mate makes a mistake, as he did in Australia.

String rumour: Vettel to Mercedes

 

 

 

Sainz a test for Verstappen

This is something Red Bull hoped Sergio Pérez would deliver, but over the years the Mexican has gone missing on too many occasions.

Recruiting Sainz to Red Bull would send a message to the Verstappen’s, that the team isn’t run for their comfort and privilege. Carlos has endured four years of being second choice to his team mate at Ferrari and his resilience is unquestionable and may be a challenge even for Max Verstappen.

Ferrari boss slams F1 journalists

 

 

 

Horner identifies RB20w weakness compared to Ferrari

The Australian Grand Prix, echoing a trend seen earlier in Las Vegas towards the end of the 2023 Formula One season, has once again brought the intense rivalry between Red Bull Racing and Ferrari to the fore. The Red Bull team boss admits a big weakness when comparing the Red Bull car to its Ferrari rival.

The 2024 season has seen Ferrari close the gap on Red Bull, demonstrating a competitive edge that has reignited the battle for supremacy. This was particularly evident at the Australian Grand Prix, where Ferrari’s performance not only challenged, but in many ways surpassed that of Red Bull.

Red Bull’s own admission that they would have struggled to win against the sheer pace of Ferrari’s package underlines the evolving dynamic between these two racing titans…. READ MORE