F1 News: Shock NEW favourite emerges for Max Verstappen Red Bull team-mate role

Christian Horner, Max Verstappen y Sergio Perez en Belgica — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Shock NEW favourite emerges for Verstappen Red Bull team-mate role

Sergio Perez’s long-term replacement may not even be driving in Formula 1

Shay Rogers

Tuesday 26 March 2024 09:12

Managing a second seat within the Red Bull team is a difficult task – which makes it all the more interesting that there could be a new front-runner for a drive with them in 2025.

Sergio Perez’s contract expires at the end of 2024 and coming off the back of a few topsy turvy seasons, he has no guarantee of remaining with the team.

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Max Verstappen is a tricky team-mate to face, as four drivers including Perez have experienced at Red Bull in the space of eight years.

The only driver that really asserted himself against him in that time was Daniel Ricciardo – but he left them at the end of 2018, and his Formula 1 career has plummeted since.

Sergio Perez has been at Red Bull since 2021

Liam Lawson is waiting for an F1 opportunity

Waiting in the wings

Interestingly, one driver poses a threat to both Ricciardo and Sergio Perez’s seats at the same time, with Red Bull’s Kiwi reserve star – Liam Lawson, eagerly waiting in the wings for a shot in F1.

Despite performing admirably as a fill-in at AlphaTauri last season, he was overlooked for a seat with Visa Cash App RB for 2024.

The time away may have done no harm to his career though, as the New Zealand Herald now reports that he is viewed internally, as Red Bull’s ‘best option’ to partner Max Verstappen long-term.

It places yet more pressure on Perez, after a tricky Australian Grand Prix weekend where he failed to back-up Verstappen following an early retirement.

If Lawson can continue to prove himself in the simulator and in every session he gets a crack at, he may just be the man that Red Bull have been searching for.