The Red Bull and RB line-ups Helmut Marko would choose if he was in charge

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Christian Horner is more powerful than ever at Red Bull. The team principal has prevailed in the behind-the-scenes tussle at Milton Keynes this year and now sits firmly above Helmut Marko in the pecking order.

As a result, Horner has the final say on Red Bull’s driver decisions. But this is an unenviable responsibility at present.

Horner, Marko and the rest of the team’s leadership met following the Belgian Grand Prix to make a decision about Sergio Perez. Perez’s spiralling form has put the team at risk of surrendering the constructors’ championship to McLaren.

They ultimately decided to stick with the Mexican beyond the summer break, but that may only postpone their problems. Indeed, Red Bull could reassess Perez’s future as soon as Singapore if he doesn’t improve.

Horner doesn’t think Yuki Tsunoda has the ‘mental strength’ to survive alongside Max Verstappen, so Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson are the two contenders to replace Perez. But if Ricciardo misses out on a return to Red Bull, he could find himself out of F1 altogether.

The team will decide on Lawson’s future next month. Should they stick with the current Red Bull line-up, he could take Ricciardo’s seat at RB.

Helmut Marko would ditch Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo

If Marko was still ‘calling the shots’, Red Bull would be making three changes across the two line-ups for 2025. That’s according to The Race’s Valentin Khorounzhiy.

The executive director would be ready to axe Perez for good and promote Tsunoda. He’d then field an all-new RB line-up in Lawson and Isack Hadjar.

Hadjar has an outside chance of an RB seat as it stands, having established a 36-point lead in the Formula 2 championship heading into the summer break. He drove for Red Bull in FP1 at the British Grand Prix last month.

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According to Marko, Red Bull’s shareholders want RB to become a junior team again. Tsunoda is the only rookie to have completed a full season for the Faenza outfit this decade.

“If it was the old Red Bull with Marko calling the shots on the driver front, we’d have Tsunoda at Red Bull and Liam Lawson-Hadjar in at RB for 2025,” Khorounzhiy said.

Christian Horner makes surprise pick for best-ever Red Bull line-up as Sebastian Vettel snubbed

Up until this year, Horner seemed satisfied with the duo at Red Bull. It had delivered back-to-back titles in an era of historic dominance.

Speaking in 2023, he claimed Verstappen/Perez was the strongest line-up in Red Bull history. The team have previously failed combinations like Sebastian Vettel/Mark Webber and Verstappen/Ricciardo.

Those comments have aged poorly, with Perez in a more precarious position than any driver on the grid. The doubts around Ricciardo’s consistency and Lawson’s experience may have saved him up to this point.

Some feel that the second driver at Red Bull is almost set up to fail. Verstappen admits other drivers may struggle to adapt to his style amid suggestions that the car is designed around him.