Last Updated on October 8 2024, 10:44 am
Its been the best of years and the worst of years in the F1 driver market. Firstly, Lewis Hamilton threw in the towel at Mercedes before the season started announcing his headline move to Ferrari. The expected domino effect to follow Hamilton’s dramatic revelation failed to happen.
In fact the reverse of the domino effect occurred as Carlos Sainz painstakingly waited it out to see if a seat was to become available at another front running F1 team. The outgoing Ferrari man was courted by Sauber/Audi, Williams and by a last ditch pitch from Alpine’s Flavio Briatore before ultimately deciding against the two works outfits and opt for Williams under the James Vowels vision.
This was the first ever season in F1’s 75 years of competition when each team started the season with exactly the same drivers who completed the final race of last year. This will definitely not be the case next season given the number of junior drivers who have full time drives.
Red Bull driver lineup in chaos
Oliver Bearman’s stella stand in performance in Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari in Jeddah will see him replace Kevin Magnussen at Haas F1. Kimi Antonelli – a driver who Toto Wolff believes is the next ‘Max Verstappen’ will step into a Mercedes alongside George Russell.
Sauber/Audi have recruited Nico Hulkenberg from Haas but remain as yet undecided on their second driver. The last time these waters were tested, it appeared Valtteri Bottas would retain his drive with the team while Zhou Gyungu will return to being Sauber’s reserve driver.
And now to Red Bull. What looked to be a fairly straight forward regeneration/promotion/relegation between Ricciardo/Perez and Lawson is now looking a lot less certain. Daniel Ricciardo has gone yet Perez remains – has been the shock news in recent weeks.
How Checo has survived the infamous Red Bull mid-season hook is anyone’s guess, but despite it being his very lack of form that will cost Red Bull the constructors’ championship this season, the Mexican driver remains in situe.
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Marko does the media rounds
During the additional three week break before the final 2024 season triple header run ins, Dr. Marko has been working his media magic. A number of themes have entertained F1 fans whom are regularly bored and suffering 2024 summer break #2.
In an effort to disregard the brain drain taking place in Milton Keynes, Dr. Marko shared with his Austrian media pals that Max Verstappen is the most important asset Red Bull have. The 81 year old Austrian has also revealed the specific details of the RB20 Max just does not like.
Yet Helmut’s raison d’être is all about drivers and F1 drivers at that. Having admitted he made the wrong call over Nyck de Vries, Dr. Marko was forced to sit it out while Christian Horner’s nominated RB driver, Daniel Ricciardo, played his dying duck in a thunderstorm routine.
Now with Ricciardo gone, Marko is eager to address the future driver pairings for both the Red Bull owned teams. He has already cleverly insisted that Liam Lawson’s six race weekend opportunity will be an “evaluation” to see how the New Zealander compares to Yuki Tsunoda when speaking to Austrian broadcaster ORF.
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Interestingly Marko also included Isak Hadjar as part of the Red Bull evaluation which for some implies Sergio Perez, despite his new contract for 2025 signed earlier this season, is not part of Red Bull’s future drier lineup.
Speaking of Lawson’s five race weekend stand in for Ricciardo when he was injured in 2023, Marko said: “I don’t know in how many races he [Lawson] was faster than Yuki, but that’s why we decided that now is the time to make a comparison with Yuki. Who of the two is the fastest?”
Despite questioning Tsunoda’s efforts against Lawson last season, Marko admits Tsunoda is now a different driver. “Admittedly, Yuki has improved a lot,” he said. “He has his emotions under control better. He was sometimes very bad on the radio. Those tirades also slowed him down.
“In other words, he lost his speed. That bothered me the most. But that’s gone now. He’s fast and consistent on all circuits.” It almost sounds like Perez’s seat will be taken by one of these two drivers now under “evaluation.”
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Marko claims he knows driver lineup
Marko returns to the theme of Red Bull’s junior drivers comparing their opportunities with those currently being offered by Mercedes and Ferrari to junior drivers Oliver Bearman and Kimi Antonelli. The Red Bull advisor notes, “But youth is the trend again.
“What we used to do, is now being done by Mercedes with Antonelli, Haas with Bearman, and I also hope that [Franco] Colapinto will end up somewhere. He was thrown in at the deep end [by Williams] and has delivered three great races.”
Dr. Marko teases by suggesting he believes he knows the two driver line ups for next year, but cautions “lets wait and see.”
Perez not in the plans
Forecasting next season, with Verstappen again champion, Marko concluded: “Ideally with a junior [as a team-mate] from our own junior programme.”
The big hint that Perez is no longer in the running was when Dr. Marko was asked who would win the 2025 world title and he responded immediately it would be Max Verstappen adding, “Ideally with a junior [as a team-mate] from our own junior programme.”
It seems inevitable that with both Horner and Marko having backed a failed driver in the past two seasons – in De Vries and Ricciardo – a back to basics approach will be adopted by Red Bull. Backing their junior drivers is the only way to finally get the Perez ‘monkey’ off their backs.
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As Mohammed Ben Sulayem took his place as head of the FIA in the Place de Concorde, Lewis Hamilton was left ruling what might have been in the Formula One 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The former Emirati rally driver was to become the first head of the FIA with no F1 background since the infamous Jean-Marie Balestre took office back in 1978.
Ben Sulayem had campaigned for the presidency under the banner of the “FIA for members” amongst its global 240 national memberships, many of whom felt the focus of the organisation was too F1 centric.
Since being elected Ben Sulayem has upset just about everyone at some point in the F1 paddock with his early campaign against drivers wearing jewellery ending in farce as Lewis Hamilton produced a sick note stating it would be detrimental to his health were he to remove his nose pin during track sessions… READ MORE
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Marko didn’t say the matter like that, though, & Checo’s previously announced drive beyond this year is probably safe, given Red Bull’s clear reluctance to promote Tsunoda, Ricciardo’s failure to show he’d be worthy of another main team chance, & Lawson’s inexperience.
Additionally, Bearman is a direct successor for Hulkenberg & Ocon for Magnussen, given the announcement timings, & Zhou most certainly will leave Team Hinwil altogether, not to mention he couldn’t even ‘return’ to reserve role at Team Hinwil since he’s never been in that role there.