How Colapinto U-turn opens the door to Red Bull’s Lawson F1 promotion

Liam Lawson appears on the pole for red bull racing Promotion to 2025 Formula 1 season after team interest Franco Colapinto Cold.

Despite signing a two-year contract extension earlier this year, Red Bull have finally given up sergio perez Unable to turn around his poor form, the team indicated it would fire the Mexican after the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

On the Monday after the race, team shareholders are meeting to decide what to do with Red Bull’s cursed second seat next door max verstappenWhich has yet to be adequately filled following Daniel Ricciardo’s exit from Renault for 2019.

A left-field option emerged early this season Williams Stand-in Colapinto, who surprised the paddock with his pace and attitude as a mid-season replacement for Logan Sargent. Colapinto’s immediate pace, without the need for an adaptation period or appearing to be untroubled by the pressure of becoming a high-profile sports star in his native Argentina, certainly ticked a number of boxes for Red Bull to fill the tough seat with Verstappen. Are.

Williams’ two seats have already been filled alex albon And carlos saenz For 2025 and beyond, Red Bull negotiated with the team to secure Colapinto for their main team, a deal that included a hefty eight-figure fee for Williams to release its in-demand reserve driver. Will happen.

But crashes in Brazil and Las Vegas have exposed Colapinto’s inevitable inexperience, leading Red Bull to reconsider the wisdom of charging eye-watering fees for someone else’s junior driver. It doesn’t mind looking outside its own talent pool, but only if that option is a clear upgrade over the available drivers it has now questioned.

Motorsport.com understands Colapinto’s Red Bull prospects were all but lost after suffering a 50g impact from the wall in an unnecessary qualifying crash in Vegas, and speaking to Motorsport.com in Qatar, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has since admitted that the 21-year-old is no longer “very high on the list”.

An additional reason for hiring Colapinto may have been the commercial support from Argentina, which would compensate for the loss of Pérez’s sponsorship from Mexico. But as well as a drop in prize money due to Pérez’s struggles, Marko admitted that the Milton Keynes workers did not receive enough bonuses as they slipped to third in the Constructors’ Championship, which had hit factory morale. It is therefore thought that Red Bull’s decision will be based on who has the best ability to make an immediate impact and score the most points on a consistent basis.

That’s why Colapinto’s failures have ousted Red Bull, and that’s why Lawson has now emerged as the front-runner for the seat rather than his more experienced team-mate. yuki tsunoda,

Tsunoda has been impressively fast against his teammates and even has a slight lead over Lawson in qualifying. But while he has clearly matured over the past two seasons and has received generous support from Honda, it appears that the Japanese have shrugged off doubts over his consistency, approach and technical ability to be suitable for the pressure cooker. Can’t do anything for. Red Bull has a front row seat.

Lawson has impressed Red Bull more than Tsunoda in all those key areas, as well as his composure when he was forced back into a reserve role after stepping in for the injured. Daniel Ricciardo Last year. And while he still needs to prove he has all the speed to become a regular race winner, Red Bull needs someone who consistently gets results within reasonable distance of Verstappen and can help accelerate development. Does. Of the options available, Lawson appears to be its man.

Red Bull’s impending decision to turn to its own talent pool has also raised the chances of F2 frontman Isaac Hadjar filling the available seat at Racing Bulls. thousands will fight 2025 Sauber Newcomer Gabriel Bortoletto is on course for the F2 title in Abu Dhabi, but equally important is the Frenchman racing in current F1 cars this weekend. Hadjar will replace Verstappen in FP1 once Red Bull completes its mandatory rookie runs and will also enjoy a full day of racing in Tuesday’s post-season test.

Speaking to Motorsport.com in Brazil, Hajjar admitted he needed the Abu Dhabi race to know if he was fully ready to step up, having only had a few proper performances in an F1 car in three FP1 seasons. Only gaps have been made.

But in the paddock the 20-year-old is seen as Tsunoda 2.0, so he will also have a lot to prove to Red Bull if he is to have the complete package to become a future Red Bull driver. In the wake of Hadjar, Red Bull will be keeping a keen eye on how 17-year-old Arvid Lindblad performs as the British Swede steps up to F2 next year after an impressive rookie campaign in F3.