Red Bull shareholders now making driver lineup decisions – Max Verstappen has finally confirmed he will remain at Red Bull Racing for the 2026 Formula One season. Last time out in Hungary, he put wildfire rumours to bed that he would be joining the Mercedes team next season.
That said, Verstappen had done his fair share of stoking the fires of suspicion, by refusing week after week to give a direct answer when asked about where he would be racing in future. Now the Verstappen drama is resolved, the attention will fall upon his team mate Yuki Tsunoda who is more than struggling with the difficult RB21.
Tsunoda with just seven points since joining Red Bull in round three this year, is heading to become the Red Bull team mate who makes the least contribution to the team’s championship since Verstappen joined the team in 2016. He replaced Liam Lawson, who was initially recruited to replace Mexican driver Sergio Perez, but survived just two race weekends.
Honer suggested Albon return
Since his return to the Racing Bulls, Lawson has kick started his season and now with 20 points to his name, is just two behind the highly rated Isack Hadjar. As the season enters its the final ten race weekends, the inevitable media attention will revert to scrutinise Red Bulls second driver seat alongside Verstappen, although presently it appears almost certain the Japanese driver will run out of road when he completes his fifth season with the energy drinks racing backed teams.
German publication Bild reported last season, that Christian Horner had suggested bringing Alex Albon back into the Red Bull fold alongside Max Verstappen. And with the Red Bull parent company majorities shareholder, Chalerm Yoovidhya being of Thai nationality, he wold back the move by the then Red bull boss to bring about the return of his countryman driver.
The now 49% shareholder is reportedly looking at influencing new team boss Laurent Mekies to look again at Albon, although no comments have been forthcoming on the matter from the new Red Bull Racing boss. Were this to be the case, it would be extraordinary for a parent company shareholder, to influence who becomes the number two driver in an F1 team.
Albon joined F1 for Toro Rosso in 2019 and was quickly promoted in is rookie year alongside Verstappen when French driver Pierre Gasly was deemed to have failed to cut the mustard. Albon competed for the entirety of the following year, before he was fired by Horner and replaced with Sergio Perez.
Williams driver outperforming Tsunoda
Albon was forced to sit out the 2021 F1 season, before Williams came a calling for his services the following year. He quickly became the team’s number one driver although a number of his team mates were inexperienced and only driving for the Grove based racing outfit due to the large commercial sponsorship they brought with them.
Alex Albon is the best placed driver from outside the top four teams this season, and now sits in P8 a long way ahead of Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda and just ten points behind Mercedes’ new superstar, Kimi Antonelli. Whilst Albon enjoys a good relationship with Yoovidhya and Red Bull are reportedly ready to make an offer to their former driver.
Yet Albon is on a long term contract with Williams and his availability will depend on the conditions a release clause may contain, such as if a top for F1 team comes a calling. Yet many in the paddock would question whether Albon should return to his former employer and that his loyalty to the redevelopment project being run by Williams boss James Vowles is absolute.
One the plus side Albon and Verstappen are on friendly terms and a return to Red Bull could be the chance to elevate Albons’s standing on the F1 grid. Back in June, Albon was asked how difficult the Red Bull car is to drive to which he recalled the unique handling characteristics of the car during his tenure in Milton Keynes.
Lawson accusation against Red Bull
Albon believes he can handle RB21
Speaking to the Race he suggested Tsunoda was having difficulty because the car doesn’t feel natural to him, but now with 113 F1 races under his belt, Albon believes he wold now be able to more than cope. “Obviously, I can speak with experience,” said Albon whose highlight with Red Bull were the two podiums he claimed.
“I think with the experience I have now, I’d be able to get around it, but it’s not something that feels natural to most drivers I think, and that’s what you’re seeing now,” said the British-Thai born racer.
The curse of the Red Bull second seat will return to become the talk of the paddock, and Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz has already observed, “Somewhere in Guadalajara, Mexico a man called Sergio is laughing his head off.” A playful reference to the fact that the Mexican drivers result, were significantly better than of those who have replaced him at Red Bull.
The curse of the Red Bull 2nd seat
So here we are again, the Red Bull second seat — motorsport’s version of the cursed Egyptian tomb. Max Verstappen is safe in his fortress, while the revolving door on the other side of the garage spins so fast it might soon qualify as a DRS zone. Now, we have a 49% shareholder allegedly peering over Laurent Mekies’ shoulder with the subtlety of a man holding a “Sign Albon” billboard.
If Albon does make the return trip to Milton Keynes, it will mark one of the rare cases in Formula 1 where a shareholder’s national pride and a team’s competitive strategy collide head-on. It’s unclear whether this would produce fireworks or just the smell of burning rubber, but one suspects the rest of the paddock will bring popcorn.
And spare a thought for poor Yuki Tsunoda, who may soon be told that his services are no longer required — possibly by someone who has never attended a single Red Bull engineering meeting but has an awfully big say in the matter. That’s Formula 1 for you: 200mph on track, Game of Thrones off it.
Red Bull in ‘breach’ of restriction of trade laws
George Russell is leading the charge for the Mercedes Formula One team this season following the departure of his seven times champion team mate Lewis Hamilton for Ferrari. The former Mercedes’ academy driver has racked up 172 of the team’s 236 points whilst his teenage co-driver is struggling to live up to the hype which surrounding Wolff signing him as Hamilton’s replacement.
Mercedes’ team boss, Toto Wolff has openly admitted to talking to Max Verstappen about a potential move from Red Bull to Mercedes which has been widely accepted as the reason George Russell, despite his best start to an F1 season, remains in the final year of his previous “one plus one” year deal he signed when Hamilton was at the team.
In F1, contracts are often announced as “multi-year” deals when in fact they are a “one plus one,” meaning one year is guaranteed then both parties can if they wish agree to a further one year extension. The smoke and mirrors is designed to present the image of stability, when in reality the team wishes to keep its options open for one reason or another…. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
