Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Red Bull Racing, Max Verstappen, Formula 1
Marcus Chan
A shock candidate to replace Sergio Perez has reportedly emerged as Red Bull continue to work on their driver line-up for the 2025 season.
One thing is for sure, Max Verstappen will be racing for Red Bull when the new campaign gets underway.
However, the big question remains whether Perez will be lining up alongside Verstappen or not.
It has been another tough season for the Mexican as he has struggled to keep pace with the three-time Formula 1 champion.
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As a result, there have been reports that Perez could be replaced by Red Bull at the end of the current campaign.
The likes of Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson are in pole positions to take over from the 34-year-old as they currently race for Red Bull’s sister team, VCARB.
However, it has been claimed that a shock new name has emerged as a potential candidate to replace Perez.
As reported by The Race, Red Bull director Helmut Marko has ‘made noises’ about signing Franco Colapinto from Williams.
Colapinto was drafted in to replace Logan Sargeant back in August but will only race for Williams until the end of the season when his seat will be handed to Carlos Sainz.
Williams are reportedly hoping to place Colapinto at Sauber, but it has been suggested that Red Bull could try and lure the Argentine away.
Ahead of this weekend's United States Grand Prix, Perez spoke about his future in F1.
He said: “Sometimes people just link these rumours and a lot of people pick it up, especially back in Mexico, with the Mexican Grand Prix coming up I didn’t want my fans to be misled into false information.
“I just wanted to make it clear that I 100 per cent will be here next year. I have my contract and I will fulfil it and that’s not in my mind. In my mind is to sort out the issues we have for the moment with the car.”
Perez added: “It’s great to see these new drivers coming in and being competitive straight away. These days, the drivers are arriving a lot more prepared than when I started.
“They (have) been with Formula 1 teams for pretty much their entire career so they’ve been to a lot of F1 races, they know how it works and they’re really up to speed straight away. So it’s great to see them.”