Red Bull are ‘seriously interested’ in signing £45k-a-week star, but there’s one issue

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Red Bull Racing will be carefully examining every possible eventuality when it comes to their driver line-up for 2025.

Sergio Perez enters the final year of his deal with questions still surrounding his recent form, while the possibility of triple-world champion Max Verstappen leaving still can’t be ruled out.

Discussing some of the potential options available to Christian Horner on The Race’s YouTube channel, Scott Mitchell-Malm outlined some of the options available to the current Constructors’ champions.

In an ideal world, Verstappen sees out his current contract until the end of 2028 and potentially goes on to sign a further extension.

They would also love to see Sergio Perez repeat his performances in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and always be the best of the rest behind Verstappen.

However, as he showed in Australia, he’s not always capable of that which will be a concern for Horner given the improvement of Ferrari this season.

Red Bull are reportedly ‘seriously interested’ in Williams driver Alex Albon but re-signing the Thai driver won’t be easy.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links

He was one of the most impressive drivers on the grid last season but hasn’t hit those same heights in 2024.

Red Bull interested in re-signing Alex Albon from Williams

There are very few drivers on the grid who wouldn’t seriously consider an offer from Red Bull should it arrive.

They’ve been the dominant force in this era of Formula 1 with Max Verstappen unstoppable since the start of the 2022 season.

Sergio Perez has won a handful of races in that time but ultimately is there to back up his teammate when needed.

Unfortunately, too often last season he didn’t qualify well enough to challenge his teammate and as he showed in Melbourne, he’s not always capable of extracting the same amount of pace out of the car as his more successful teammate.

If Perez is moved on, then Red Bull will want the strongest candidate possible to replace him and they’re interested in Alex Albon.

READ MORE: Williams driver Alex Albon’s life outside F1 from net worth, girlfriend to parents

The 28-year-old didn’t have the best time during his previous stint alongside Verstappen and has previously spoken about his struggles.

The £45,000-a-week driver has even been tipped as a Verstappen replacement should he decide to move on such is the confidence in his abilities within the team.

Red Bull’s future driver line-up still up for debate

Speaking about the options available to Red Bull, Mitchell-Malm said: “Yeah, it is fascinating because it means it isn’t just incumbent [Sergio] Perez versus the quite convenient plug-in replacement Daniel Ricciardo or the left-field Yuki Tsunoda who, no matter what he does, doesn’t seem to be taken seriously by the Red Bull hierarchy at the moment.

“It brings your [Fernando] Alonso’s, your Carlos Sainz’s and maybe even an Alex Albon-type into the mix.

“Obviously, Albon needs to get out of his Williams contract that he has for 2025 to do that but we know that Red Bull were seriously interested in him.

“And the fact that Red Bull has such a wide range of options and is willing to consider options outside the pool means every other team pretty much has to wait for the dominoes to start falling.

“It all hinges on what Red Bull does and what that competition is.”

Alex Albon not immediately available to Red Bull despite interest

The issue facing Red Bull is despite being interested in Albon, he’s not available until the end of 2025.

That would line up with the talk in the paddock that Perez has already been offered a one-year extension.

Journalist Peter Saward believes that Albon may be lined up to join the team in 2026.

As Ferrari have shown with Lewis Hamilton, it’s not completely unheard of to have a driver lined up more than a season in advance.

Albon will be wondering if Williams is the right place for him in the long-term given their slow start to this season.