Red Bull F1 have 'decided 2026 driver lineup with announcement pending'

red bull, racing bulls, isack hadjar, max verstappen, liam lawson, yuki tsunoda — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Red Bull have 'decided 2026 driver lineup with announcement pending'

Isack Hadjar secured his first career podium in Zandvoort

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Wednesday 3 September 2025 08:58

A former F1 world champion has said that Red Bull's 2026 driver lineup has been decided upon, and that an announcement is coming soon.

Following Max Verstappen's announcement that he will be staying at Red Bull for 2026, the team are frantically looking for a team-mate for the Dutchman.

Current Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda is due to be out of contract at the end of the 2025 season, and it is thought that he will not be offered a new deal, although his points-scoring finish at the Dutch Grand Prix will have given him a boost on that front.

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Overall, however, the Japanese racer has not done enough since being promoted up to the main Red Bull seat after Liam Lawson was axed after just two races of the season.

Since the swap, Tsunoda has only scored nine points from 13 race weekends, and both Lawson and Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar sit above him in the drivers' championship.

Last weekend, impressive rookie Hadjar managed to secure his first career podium, driving brilliantly after qualifying fourth for the race at Zandvoort.

Following that performance, 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve told Sky Sports that Hadjar is destined to be Verstappen's team-mate, as soon as next season.

"He seems to be good under pressure, and he’s young, he’s a rookie," Villeneuve said. "He doesn’t have that much experience. He went through the smaller categories; he’s climbed very quickly through the ranks.

"When he gets a beating, he stands up even stronger! So, he seems to be the real deal, and I think he’s already in the big car next year; they’re just waiting to announce when."

Who will race for Red Bull in 2026?

Red Bull's driver lineup has been up for debate for quite some time now. Sergio Perez's poor performances finally saw him axed at the end of 2024, with Lawson stepping up to replace him.

However, Lawson looked to be devoid of all confidence at Red Bull, suffering two Q1 exits and two pointless weekends before being replaced just two races into his Red Bull opportunity.

Both Perez and Lawson's stocks since then have gone up, however, with Tsunoda's struggles proving that the second Red Bull seat is somewhat of a poisoned chalice.

Lawson has outperformed Tsunoda in 2025 despite racing for the junior team, while Perez has gone on to secure a seat at new team Cadillac for 2026.

It's thought that New Zealander Lawson will not be considered for a seat at Red Bull for 2026, but other than that Red Bull's three F1 seats across the two teams bar Verstappen appear to be wide open.

If Hadjar does get promoted up into the main Red Bull seat, Racing Bulls would need to find a way to replace him, with Arvid Lindblad arguably the favourite to take that seat, unless Tsunoda is offered another chance with the junior team despite having been there for four full seasons before this year.

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Red Bull Yuki Tsunoda Isack Hadjar