Red Bull does not find a partner for Max Verstappen

The Austrian team dispensed with Czech Pérez at the end of 2024 for lack of results and since then located two pilots, but the equation remains the same.

In the base of Milton Keynes there is a headache that seems to have no solution: the second Red Bull. Under the ceiling of the shield of energizing drinks they live gold and mud, without scales. On one side of the box is Max Verstappen, winner of the last four titles and a points of adding points. The big problem is in the partner. The Team Popes sat three pilots next to the Dutch in the last ten races and there is no case, they do not find someone who can consist and raise the Austrian actions in the fight for the crown of builders. The last chosen option, Yuki Tsunoda, does not work either and the GP of Spain was the maximum alert signal with the last place it occupied in the classification and the 13th in the competition.

Can Red Bull only be managed by Verstappen? It is possible. Czech Pérez was the Dutchmate for four seasons (2021-2024). The Mexican’s contract won at the end of the previous year, but his good start led the team to renew it by 2025 after the seventh date. But the tapatío entered a very strong performance downturn and their numbers collapsed. The team’s hierarchs chose to terminate the link with Pérez before premiere (they would have paid 18 million dollars) in search of an option that, in Red Bull’s plans, would give them more competitiveness. Liam Lawson was chosen, but the New Zealand lasted just the first two great awards this year before being degraded to Racing Bulls. Christian Horner, the director, and Helmut Marko, sports advisor, chose Tsunoda. But it didn’t work either.

The numbers are eloquent. In the last 27 races, the chassis driven by Verstappen scored 438 points, that is, just over 16 on average by appointment. The second Red Bull added 56! There were 49 with Czech, seven with Yuki and nothing hand in Lawson. COn those figures, fighting for the title of builders is impossible. To top it off, the Japanese suffered a very hard accident in the classification of the Emilia-Romagna GP that resulted in a expensive invoice.

After the Montmeló classification, Marko spoke with Sky Germany about Tsunoda’s performance: “The performance is disappointing. It was relatively close to Max on Friday. And now, in the classification, nothing worked.” And he added: “Finish last, even if the car is not completely identical to that of Verstappen, it is something that we must question internally.”

Can those internal questions lead to another pilot change? It seems difficult, especially within its own quarry. Isack Hadjar is the revelation of the season, with a performance in Racing Bulls that is well above what was expected of him. His tantrums in F2 gave way to an applied and fast pilot in F1, but hurry to try to squeeze it in Red Bull can be reckless, more with the Lawson case as a fresh witness. There are almost no letters left to play in Milton Keynes, just wait for the resurgence of Tsunoda and continue enjoying the gold that Verstappen brings every time the helmet is put on.