Red Bull employee shares what’s ‘strange’ about Christian Horner’s talks over Franco Colapinto

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Franco Colapinto is firmly in the conversation for a 2025 Formula 1 seat off the back of his impressive performances.

The 21-year-old wasn’t a well-known name in the paddock when he stepped into a Williams cockpit for the first time after they dropped Logan Sargeant at the Dutch Grand Prix.

But he has forged a name for himself, fairing well against an experienced teammate in Alex Albon, and it has attracted some interest.

Namely, Red Bull, who are monitoring his progress as they look to decide on a Visa Cash App RB driver for 2025, and a possible Sergio Perez replacement.

Why Red Bull signing Franco Colapinto would be ‘strange’

Red Bull have a variety of options to assess heading into the 2025 season, and they don’t appear to be too keen on many of them.

Promoting Yuki Tsunoda to Red Bull despite four years of Formula 1 experience doesn’t seem possible, while they also don’t appear to be too keen on bringing Isack Hadjar up from Formula 2 either.

Speaking on the RacingNews365 podcast, Red Bull employee Rudy van Buren said he would go with an option from within their stable of drivers.

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“That decision is not up to me, those guys are in that place because they are all good.

“But speaking personally, it seems strange to me if you take someone who [does] not come from the Red Bull career ladder. While there are so many good guys ready at the moment.”

Where does Colapinto go if Red Bull is no option?

If Red Bull decide that Colapinto isn’t the driver for them in 2025, it leaves the Argentine in a tricky predicament.

Sauber have just confirmed their driver pairing for next season, so there is no option for a seat with the Swiss outfit anymore.

It means that there are no Formula 1 seats left now, and instead, his focus must turn to finding a cockpit for 2026 or even 2027.

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Whether that means stepping into a reserve or test role for 2025, we will probably find out the answer to that question soon.

He certainly won’t want to return to Formula 2 again, having already made the significant step up in machinery to race faster cars.