Who will be in Formula 1 at Red Bull Teammate from Max Verstappen in Formula 1? This question is still open. And, according to Laurent Mekies, will remain unanswered for a while. Because the team boss sees no reason to make a decision at short notice.
“The reality for us is that we are not under pressure,” Mekies, who took over the team leadership after the departure of Christian Horner in July, told “Canal+”. Motorsport consultant Helmut Marko also emphasizes that the decision about the further driver occupations will not be made in the near future.
“We extended the options or the drivers extended them with us,” said Marko on Friday as part of the Grand Prix of the Netherlands in Zandvoort to “Sky”.
“We want to have some races and observe and then make the decisions.”
Mekies emphasizes progress at Tsunoda
Yuki Tsunoda has been in the second Red Bull Cockpit since the third season of 2025 after replacing Liam Lawson. So far, however, the Japanese has only been able to collect seven points and is in 18th place in the driver’s ranking. Tsunoda has therefore not yet received a contract extension for the coming season.
In recent years, Red Bull has always had difficulty finding a constantly strong teammate for Verstappen. Even drivers such as Lawson, Sergio Perez, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly could not say the cockpit in the long term.
Despite the well -known willingness of the team, Mekies currently sees no need for action. Tsunoda has shown progress in the last two races, among other things with his best qualifying result of the season in Belgium, where he took seventh place.
What chance do the racing bulls drivers have?
“We are happy to have Yuki in the car. In addition, we can rate our young drivers very well with Racing Bulls,” continued Mekies. In addition to Lawson, who is making progress in the sister team, he also emphasized Isack Hadjar, who has surprised strong performances since the beginning of the season.
Red Bull is currently in fourth place in the design classification, 42 points behind Mercedes. Therefore, according to Mekies’ statement, the team focuses on the further course of the current season. “We understand the questions and impatience about this topic,” he said.
“But for us it is primarily a matter of making our drivers as best as possible for the remaining ten races. In a few months we will make the best decision together.”