Red Bull could replace Sergio Perez with ‘left field’ 36-year-old driver in 2025

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It was been suggested that Red Bull Racing could make a ‘left field’ move to replace Sergio Perez with Nico Hulkenberg at the end of the season.

While Max Verstappen is going to be a fixture at Red Bull for as long as he wants to race in Formula 1, the identity of his teammate could be set to change again at the end of this year.

Speaking on The Race Podcast, journalist Ben Anderson has made a very surprising call for who could partner the Dutchman going forward.

The Red Bull driver situation is always fascinating as they have arguably the strongest academy set-up on the grid.

Not only do they always have four drivers on the grid, but they’ve always got a couple of brilliant youngsters waiting in the wings.

Liam Lawson is very much deserving of a place on the grid after performing brilliantly during his cameo last season.

There’s even been a suggestion that Isack Hadjar could end up with a seat at AlphaTauri in 2025.

However, Red Bull might need a more experienced driver alongside Verstappen in 2025 is Sergio Perez departs and that could be Nico Hulkenberg.

The 36-year-old German is currently at Haas where he’s rarely fighting for points in one of the slowest cars on the grid.

It would be a huge step up if he was suddenly in the fastest car on the grid, especially as he’s never even finished on the podium.

Hulkenberg suggested as ‘left field’ option for Red Bull in 2025

Asked who his choice is for Red Bull’s second seat next year, Anderson said: “I want to throw in a curveball that we haven’t considered and that is a guy who will be out of contract in 2024 who was linked with Red Bull before Sergio Perez took that drive, Nico Hulkenberg.”

Scott Mitchell-Malm replied: “That’s very out of left field, you could work German media with that kind of outlook.”

Anderson explained: “He could do a decent job for them I think because what I don’t see happening is Perez coming out of Red Bull and being the team leader at the second team.

“They don’t trust [Yuki] Tsunoda to be that leader, I don’t think they can rely on a [Liam] Lawson – [Isack] Hadjar line-up for what they want, so they need [Daniel] Ricciardo in place, especially if they’re not convinced he’s an upgrade on Perez.

“But Hulkenberg I think as a left field in these types of cars, I think he’s quick and would work well with Verstappen, he’s cheap.”

Verstappen might not be too upset to see Hulkenberg alongside him at Red Bull in 2025.

The pair have been touted to drive together at Le Mans one day and are relatively close.

One of the issues with the pairing Mitchell-Malm points out is that Verstappen isn’t a big fan of doing the media around racing and Hulkenberg isn’t particularly keen on it either.

While that shouldn’t be a deciding factor when considering a driver line-up it does play a part in modern Formula 1.

Hulkenberg would be a popular choice among fans as driving for Red Bull would give him his best chance yet of finally securing that coveted podium.