Racing Bulls F1 chief claims FOUR drivers in the hunt for Red Bull seats

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

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Racing Bulls chief claims FOUR drivers are in the hunt for Red Bull F1 seats

Red Bull and Racing Bulls are yet to confirm their full 2026 driver lineup

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Monday 27 October 2025 20:27

Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane has claimed there are four drivers in contention for the remaining Red Bull F1 seats.

The championship has now entered its final stages, with just four race weekends left in the year.

As such, time is running out for both Red Bull and their junior squad Racing Bulls to assess who they want in their cars next season.

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For now, reigning champion Max Verstappen isn't going anywhere after he reaffirmed his loyalty to the energy drink giants earlier this season following rumours of a switch to Mercedes.

But the decision around who his 2026 team-mate will be is yet to follow.

By design, Racing Bulls is set up to train stars from the Red Bull driver pool until they can be considered as suitable candidates for a seat at the main team.

Both Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda have been plucked from their seats at the sister squad in 2025 to try out a drive alongside Verstappen, but neither of those options have worked out spectacularly.

So, the question remains, have Lawson and Tsunoda done enough to keep a seat in the sport?

Who will drive for Racing Bulls in 2026?

Since the humiliating demotion back down to Racing Bulls after just two races in 2025, Lawson has been getting along just fine at the junior team.

But having already proved that he couldn't handle the challenge of being Verstappen's team-mate, it could be argued that his role at Racing Bulls has become obsolete.

Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad on the other hand hasn't had a chance to try his hand at driving either of the F1 cars for more than the occasional FP1 session, making quite a convincing case for a promotion up from F2.

It seems that Lindblad could be on Red Bull's radar, especially after stepping in for Verstappen in FP1 at the Mexican GP last weekend.

Following the 18-year-old's run in the RB21, Racing Bulls boss Permane corroborated Helmut Marko’s comments that the driver decisions would be taken at some point after the weekend in Mexico.

Speaking to Sky F1, Permane said: "It is correct in as much as it will be after Mexico. I don't know if it will be after Brazil and Las Vegas, so don't take it too literally!

"There's five drivers. We know for sure Max won't be in our car. It’ll be two out of the other four, is what I would say at the moment. We are still looking at things.

"Both teams are in a reasonably tight constructors' battle, so us not talking about drivers for next year is helping that stability."

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Red Bull Racing Bulls Alan Permane