Red Bull board have now given Christian Horner the ‘green light’ to hire one driver for 2025

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Red Bull have still yet to finalise either of their driver line-ups for the 2025 season. Sergio Perez’s future remains up in the air, while there’s a vacancy next to Yuki Tsunoda at junior team RB.

Perez signed a new contract back in June that seemingly confirmed he’d race for Red Bull next year. There was also a performance-related option for 2026.

However, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko have been assessing whether there’s a way out of that agreement. Perez’s desperate form has seen the team fall to third in the constructors’ standings, having won the title in the past two years.

Of course, this will also have a direct impact on the RB line-up. Despite his impressive performances this year – he’s only three points shy of the top 10 in the drivers’ standings – Tsunoda isn’t thought to be in contention.

There has been internal debate as to whether Red Bull should promote from within or go for an outside hire. Rather than coming through the driver academy like most others, Perez arrived from Racing Point in the winter of 2020/21.

Many F1 wonder why Red Bull snubbed Carlos Sainz. The former Toro Rosso driver, a four-time race-winner, was available as a free agent after Ferrari signed Lewis Hamilton.

Red Bull have now approved the signing of Franco Colapinto from Williams

According to Ralf Bach, speaking on the F1-Insider YouTube channel, Horner is keen for Red Bull to acquire Franco Colapinto from Williams. James Vowles is willing to part with the Argentine – for a hefty fee – because he’s already signed Sainz and Alex Albon for multiple years.

While Colapinto has been a revelation since his move, scoring five points and immediately pressurising Albon, Marko is less keen. He wants the team to prioritise the drivers already in their stable.

However, Red Bull shareholders have now sanctioned the move. If they can secure his services – Alpine are also interested in Colapinto – they will then have to decide whether to place him at the senior team or RB.

“Horner’s favourite [option] is to buy Colapinto from Williams for €20million (£16.7m),” Bach said. “Apparently there is a board resolution where they gave him the green light.

“Helmut Marko is saying, ‘What do we want with Colapinto, we have our own juniors with Lawson and Tsunoda, especially Lawson? They should be promoted now.’

“Lawson is Marko’s favourite. He’s doing a good job as a replacement for Ricciardo.”

Why there could be an announcement about Franco Colapinto’s future at the Las Vegas Grand Prix

Neither Colapinto nor Lawson is a perfect option for Red Bull. They need a clear upgrade to justify a huge pay-off to Sergio Perez.

But between them, the two drivers have only competed in 14 Grands Prix – a perilously small sample size. Red Bull will at least have a backlog of simulator data for Lawson, and they know how good Albon is too – a useful benchmark for Colapinto.

Former Red Bull driver Robert Doornbos fears Colapinto could face ‘mortal embarrassment’ alongside Max Verstappen. Taking on the three-time (soon-to-be four-time) world champion so early could cause lasting damage to his confidence.

But Horner clearly sees him as a special talent who’s up to the task. Colapinto’s team have set a Las Vegas deadline to resolve his future, so there could be an announcement next weekend.