Following the long-awaited confirmation of Carlos Sainz at Williams and Andrea Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes, there are only three vacancies left in Formula 1 for 2025. Or rather, formally two (at RB and Kick-Sauber), but there is still no 100 percent guarantee that Sergio Pérez will honour his own contract with Red Bull. What is the latest news from the paddock?
Red Bull’s crash boosts Perez’s chances
Not long ago, it seemed that the Mexican was doomed. The new contract with Red Bull, according to rumours, included a number of conditions, if they were not met, the Bulls would have the right to expel Perez, even during the season. However, Sergio held on during the summer break and now his stock has risen significantly.
Red Bull’s ongoing problems with the car reached the point where Sergio looked even better than Max Verstappen at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and the team finally admitted that they had been developing the car incorrectly since last season, which Checo immediately pointed out to them. They then didn’t listen to Perez, but it turns out that due to the characteristics of his aerobatics and, let’s be honest, at a slightly lower level, he simply felt problems with the technique before Verstappen.
Now that Red Bull is losing speed and valuable employees, it would be strange if the team, among other things, staged a revolution with the driver line-up. In addition, there is no ready-made replacement for Perez: Daniel Ricciardo does not shine at RB, the bosses stubbornly do not consider Yuki Tsunoda, and Liam Lawson does not have enough experience to send him to the main team immediately. In general, at the moment everything suggests that Perez will start the next season at Red Bull. And then everything will depend on the results: he and Lawson will be in the second team.
Related materials
Classification
Who is the worst driver in the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix?
Riccardo leaving Singapore?
The smiling Australian appears to have lost the race for a Red Bull seat, and if so, then his presence at RB makes little sense. This season, Ricciardo and Tsunoda are roughly equal in level, and this is very bad news for a driver who only a few seasons ago was considered a top driver. Now Ricciardo is a 35-year-old veteran who was unable to recover his reputation after the failure at McLaren.
That’s why there were rumours that Dan would not simply hand over his seat to Lawson at the end of the 2024 season, but would do so earlier than planned, almost after the Singapore Grand Prix. Supposedly, there is a clause in Liam’s contract that guarantees the New Zealander five F1 races in 2024 (after Singapore, there will be six Grands Prix left on the calendar).
Liam Lawson hopes for a F1 race seat
Photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
To be honest, I don’t believe in the existence of such a point. Liam was already at Red Bull on a long-term contract, moreover, this agreement guaranteed him a place as a fighter driver in the 2025 season or freedom, with the opportunity to move to Audi or reach an early agreement with someone for 2026. Why would Red Bull, in such a situation, be generous with guarantees already during the current season?
One way or another, the wave of rumours is not abating. Most likely, in Singapore, RB will officially announce a contract with Lawson for 2025 – then, probably, we will understand whether the Bulls’ junior team will complete the current season with the same composition. In the Constructors’ Championship, RB is only five points ahead of Haas in the race for sixth place – regular conditions for experimentation.
Related materials
In F1 they hire drivers who don’t shine and even fail in the youth team. What nonsense?
Audi: Bottas or youth?
Mattia Binotto continues to discuss who he needs as a partner for Nico Hulkenberg: another experienced driver (read Valtteri Bottas) or one of the young racers. There are many of them: Gabriel Bortoleto, Williams’ shooter Franco Colapinto, Binotto’s old acquaintance Robert Schwartzman, who worked with the team during a practice session, and his own pupils Theo Purcher and Zane Maloney.
Here’s what Binotto himself had to say about the agony of choice: “Are we choosing experience or something else? This is a project with long-term goals, so the question is what is best for us now, if we have the end goal in mind. Is it better to choose the shorter-term and experience option and then move on to something else? We definitely listen to all potential riders. We weigh the pros and cons to find the best compromise.”
Mattia Binotto keeps thinking
Photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images
And indeed, each of the contenders has its own arguments for and against. Bottas, for example, demands a multi-year deal, but Audi is still unlikely to be able to fight at least for podiums – wouldn’t it be better to start nurturing a young star? But there is a problem here: Bortoleto and Colapinto are connected to McLaren and Williams, and both teams would like to rent the drivers rather than lose all rights to them. Obviously, Binotto and Audi will not be happy about this, so if the parties do not agree on compensation, this will seriously damage the chances of the new leader of Formula 2 and the unexpectedly agile newcomer to F1.
Shvartsman is also linked (to Ferrari), but here the situation is probably simpler. It is obvious that the Scuderia no longer considers Robert as its potential F1 driver, so the Italians will feel more comfortable parting ways with the Russian and Israeli passport holder. It is just that Schwartzman has hardly appeared in Kick-Sauber-related insiders lately: they talk much more about Bortoleto and Colapinto. It is not a good sign, but we will see. Robert still has more experience with an F1 car than Bortoleto and better results in the lower categories than Colapinto.
Binotto has promised to make a decision by the end of September, which is in principle a logical deadline. There will be a long break in Formula 1 after Singapore, during which we will have to wait for an answer.
Related materials
Live
Heavy crashes in F1 and F2, many overtakings and an unexpected winner: How the races in Baku went
