Red Bull owner ‘would love’ to bring back one driver Christian Horner let go as Max Verstappen’s teammate

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Red Bull have a second-driver problem for 2025. It’s not necessarily a new one – their issues can be traced back to Daniel Ricciardo’s exit in 2018.

Yuki Tsunoda is enduring one of the worst Red Bull seasons ever, with his results unprecedented since the team became a frontrunner in the late noughties. In his defence, even Max Verstappen believes the car is difficult to drive.

Isack Hadjar is the favourite to replace Tsunoda after a spectacular start. But one senses that he may need to do a little more to convince the team – he hasn’t scored in any of the last five Grands Prix and his middling championship position (13th) suggests there may be a problem with Sunday execution.

Teammate Liam Lawson, dropped by Red Bull at the beginning of the year, has finally found form. Lawson has scored 18 points in the last seven weekends, or 14 in the last five, but the consensus is that he’s had his chance.

Chalerm Yoovidhya keen on bringing Alex Albon back to Red Bull

With question marks over all three realistic options to partner Verstappen, there’s a temptation within Red Bull to explore the market. Chalerm Yoovidhya, who owns 49% of the team, has made his feelings clear.

He ‘would love’ to see Alex Albon return to the Milton Keynes outfit. Albon came through the driver academy and made his debut for Toro Rosso in 2019.

His strong start, coupled with Pierre Gasly’s unravelling, saw him promoted to the top team just halfway through his rookie season. But Albon didn’t look like a lasting solution, and he dropped out of F1 altogether when Christian Horner let him go at the end of 2020.

Albon has a good relationship with his fellow Thai Yoovidhya, but he ‘does not seem open’ to the move. That’s because he has ‘every confidence’ in Williams, who gave him a second chance in 2022.

‘Experienced management’ at Red Bull wouldn’t have a problem with making Albon an offer, but it would likely be a fruitless endeavour.

What Alex Albon thinks about Max Verstappen five years after Red Bull exit

Albon has been one of the standout drivers in F1 this year. He entered the summer break eighth in the championship – the best outside the top-four teams – and only 10 points behind Kimi Antonelli.

He leads Carlos Sainz, a four-time Grand Prix winner, 17-9 in competitive sessions. He was waiting for this kind of opportunity to show what he could do.

Albon and Verstappen get on well, with the former labelling his old teammate ‘the most misunderstood driver on the grid’ in a recent interview.

Despite Tsunoda’s woes, Albon thinks he could ‘get around’ Red Bull’s car problems if he returned to the team. That’s the benefit of his experience.

Unfortunately for Yoovidhya and co., Williams are optimistic of race wins as soon as 2027. And there’s no guarantee that Red Bull will be a better bet for the radically different regulations next year.