Tsuonda and Verstappen at Red Bull — Photo: © IMAGO

Formula 1

Red Bull has a big F1 driver problem, Martin Brundle has an extreme solution

The Sky Sports F1 pundit has put forward a shocking fix for the F1 giant.

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Accredited motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Tuesday 4 November 2025 13:22

Red Bull has a major problem with its second driver seat in 2025, and Sky Sports pundit Martin Brundle has an extreme solution for it.

The F1 giant has no issues with its lead star, after Max Verstappen is the four-time reigning World Drivers' champion - and still somehow in the mix to make it five.

But alongside the dominant Dutchman the second seat at Red Bull has become almost an irrelevance, almost an annoyance. Every driver thrown into that bubbling cauldron in recent year has melted when competing with mighty Max.

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Nearly a year on from Sergio Perez's axe, the team once again find themselves deliberating over the futures of Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar, a decision which will have broader repercussions over their entire racing careers.

Even team principal Laurent Mekies has described the ongoing second seat saga a ‘distraction’ from the championship; but is this constant merry-go-round of Red Bull drivers starting to hinder the team?

Martin Brundle has a solution for Red Bull, and it is shocking

“I think if regulations allow, Red Bull should run a one-car team and have three drivers in the Racing Bulls because anybody who sits alongside Max gets their head scrambled pretty rapidly for a number of reasons, basically because he’s so fast and so good,” Brundle explained.

Okay. It is unlikely Brundle was actually being deadly serious here, but is there really a better solution with Red Bull’s current options?

The pundit then continued to assess the drivers at the team’s disposal for next year, and continued: “I think Yuki’s had his chances to be honest, obviously Honda are moving away from Red Bull as well with that Japanese link, I think you’ve got to look to the future.

“The problem is for next year there’s such a dramatic change, the biggest ever in the history of Formula 1 with the power units and the chassis, you want the experience, you want knowledge.

“I think Lawson’s showing some potential and some upside, Hadjar definitely, ideally I don’t think you want to put Hadjar up into the main team, I think he needs another year.

“Lindblad’s looking really good but does he need a bit more experience? It’s a gamble and they’ll say ‘we refer you to Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel’ when we put young guys in and if they’re good enough they can handle it.

“I suspect it’s a heavy discussion as to whether they're going to take the risk on Hadjar in the main team and Lindblad in the Racing Bulls.”

Brundle raises some interesting points, but maybe Red Bull’s problem is that they keep looking towards youth. Wouldn’t it have been more ambitious during the 2024 silly season to go after bigger names and talents in the sport, who are proven race winners. The likes of Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso spring to mind.

For the second year in a row, Red Bull conclude their season uncertain over their 2026 driver lineup. This instability is unbefitting of a top F1 team and there are no more excuses to keep repeating this same pattern.

It is time for Red Bull to break the F1 driver mould entirely next year, it simply cannot continue as it has done.

Red Bull Yuki Tsunoda Liam Lawson Martin Brundle Isack Hadjar