Red Bull's chief advisor Helmut Marko has revealed there is a new candidate to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull for 2025, despite the Mexican signing a two-year extension in the summer.
The Austrian team fell behind in the Formula One constructor championship for the first time since 2022 in Azerbaigian as Oscar Piastri's victory secured the top spot for McLaren.
Red Bull have seen themselves go from the most dominant team in F1 history last year to falling significantly behind in 2024, with Mercedes, Ferrari, and McLaren all winning races more recently than Red Bull.
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Max Verstappen somehow still leads the driver championship with 331 points, while his championship rival Lando Norris sits in second place with 279 points.
One of the main reasons Red Bull have struggled to match the points of their competitors is they have been fighting pretty much one-handed due to the huge disparity between Verstappen and Perez's points haul.
Despite some excellent performances in his first few years at the team, Perez has been significantly off his teammate for well over 12 months.
Perez sits eighth in the championship behind every other driver in the top four teams, which has added huge pressure on Perez to keep his spot if Red Bull are to reclaim their top spot in the sport.
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Despite signing a shock extension in July, Helmut Marko has confirmed Perez's seat isn't secure for next year and that RB driver Yuki Tsunoda is an option to replace the 34-year-old.
Marko told F1-Insider.com: "Tsunoda is a candidate to drive alongside Max in 2025. The remaining races of this season will decide what our driver pairings will look like for next year."
Tsunoda has been with Red Bull's feeder team since 2021, and despite his hot head and questionable temperament, he has become far more consistent in the last two seasons.
The Japanese driver is still only 24 years old and will be heading into his fifth season in the sport next year, and if his performances continue to be ignored questions will be raised on the credibility of Red Bull's junior team.
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If Tsunoda is to earn the promotion he will have to prove himself over his new teammate Liam Lawson who replaced Daniel Ricciardo after the Singapore Grand Prix.
Lawson is also reportedly in contention for a seat alongside Verstappen, but Tsunoda has already claimed it would be 'weird' for Lawson to be selected over him for 2025.
“If they choose Liam, that would be weird. ... But for me at least, I don't think [it will happen]. For sure Liam did a really good job when he drove in the team, but I think I did more than that," Tsunoda explained.
Topics: Helmut Marko, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Formula 1
Tom Jenkins