HUGE UPCOMING F1 Driver Transfers Just Got LEAKED After Post-Season TESTING!

Formula 1 News
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752 Video Views·Dec 13, 2024
The post-season tyre test is over and now we can finally see how the situation stands with
some of the teams that are not fully prepared with their 2025 lineups and they are Red Bull
and Racing Bulls. Although this tyre test was supposed to give Tsunoda a position to fight
for the seat, it does look like the Austrian squad has made up their mind about Lawson
and potentially promoting Hajar from Formula 2 to the Faenza-based squad. But there are obstacles
With this in mind, will we see an entirely shaken up grid within the Red Bull circles
and if so, can this influence Tsunoda to seek a solution elsewhere, Aston Martin for example?
One of the biggest mysteries and probably the only one remaining to be solved for the 2025 season
is Red Bull and Racing Bulls lineups and while we do have a general outlook of how things are
likely to stand after the talks have been held and Perez himself admitted he is under threat,
nothing is certain. For example, the tyre test in Abu Dhabi was the first and likely the last
shot that the Japanese driver would have had when it comes to being Verstappen's teammate from 2025
onwards and even though the president of Honda Racing, Koji Watanabe, spoke to Horner regarding
making this a reality, it's highly unlikely to happen. When talking about this situation,
Watanabe said, I returned to Japan from Abu Dhabi yesterday afternoon and on Saturday,
I had various discussions with Horner about the drivers for next season and beyond. As I always
say, the team has the right to decide on the driver, so our opinion is merely for reference.
But from the HRC side, we believe that Tsunoda has the ability to be promoted to Red Bull and
should be one of the candidates. I think what we could do is give him an opportunity to show his
abilities to the world, so I asked him to participate in the test and we were able to
make it happen. Tsunoda very clearly analysed the differences between the V-Carb and the RB20
and has given the team very useful advice and comments on that basis. I have confirmed from
the report that Tsunoda himself is very satisfied. Tsunoda said that he is very happy that he was
able to do the test and felt very confident in the car, which if you don't know the limitations of,
you can't push it to the limit like he did. But it looks like all of this falls on deaf ears
because Red Bull has made up their mind to promote Lawson based on a variety of reasons,
with the first one being that he did what was expected from him and that is to match Tsunoda
in performance. Horner has held quite a high opinion of Lawson when talking about the performance of
the Kiwi driver and when rating both of the Racing Bulls drivers, he said, I think Liam,
in challenging circumstances, has done a very good job. If you analyse what he's done in the
time that he's had and the race pace that he's had, I think he's done a good job. I think Yuki
has done a good job too. So in the event that anything we decide with Checo, they'll be the
candidates, obviously, that we'll look towards. Even though Lawson was outqualified by his
teammate in all of the six races that they shared the grid together as Racing Bulls drivers,
he scored four points, which seems to be more than enough for Red Bull to consider him as a
replacement for Perez. I know what is probably going through your mind right now. What can
Tsunoda possibly do more in order to have a shot at Red Bull? But at this point, it just looks like
the team is decisive to go in another direction. And the first shot he will have to be competitive
on a greater basis will be with Aston Martin. That is if Horner pulls some strings and makes
changes in one of the most controversial lineups on the grid. With the ageing Alonso and the
nepotistic relationship between Lance and his father, who owns the team, there is always an
opening with the arrival of personnel like Newey and Cardeel, as well as Honda, who will be looking
to make massive improvements in the team that fell down so quickly after their initial form in 2023
looked so promising. Be that as it may, the situation in Red Bull stays stationary in
terms of their views of the drivers. And even though you would say that Lawson doesn't have
the experience to be Verstappen's teammate, he has the stability and the consistency.
Throughout the Pirelli tyre test, he drove the most number of laps compared to any other driver.
And it just goes to show that not only can he deliver performance in an extraordinary manner,
but he can also provide feedback that will help the engineers in pushing the car in the right
direction now that they have tons of time to spend in the wind tunnel after finishing third
in the Constructors' Championship. The goal for Red Bull was clear from the very start of Perez
downfall. We need two drivers who can score points consistently. And while it's safe to assume that
Lawson won't be outperforming Verstappen because of the brilliance that the Dutchman possesses
and his ability to win championships with the third fastest car on the grid, he could be very
close to him in a similar fashion to how Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes had two drivers finishing
close to each other in a race. If that were to happen, then the probable replacement for Lawson
in Racing Bulls would be Isaac Hadjar, the driver who was a runner up for the Formula 2 Championship
this year and lost it to Bortoletto, an already confirmed Formula 1 driver in a battle that went
down to the last race in Abu Dhabi. This move is even further proving the fact that Red Bull is
ready to get back to their own roots, which is promoting drivers from their academy, as Perez
was one of the rare exceptions they made, like they did with Coulthard when it comes to signing
drivers that were not part of their own ranks. Tsunoda has threatened that he will destroy every
teammate that the team sends to him just to prove that he has what it takes to drive the Red Bull car
and replace Verstappen. But even the Japanese driver himself is aware that the chances of this
happening are now slim to none, as he raised his own doubts about whether or not he has a shot at
Red Bull's seat. When talking about it, Tsunoda said, I think I am showing quite well and it's
up to them and I've just got to do whatever I can. There are not many reasons why they don't want to
put me in the Red Bull. To be honest, I don't know if I am a real contender to replace Perez.
Can you interview Red Bull and find out? Even if they say Yuki is in the mix, I don't know if that
is the truth or not, to be honest. I hope I am in that mix, but if not, I don't know what I should
do more than this. It definitely hurts to see Tsunoda being heart-shaped from the team that
he spent more than four years with. And with the uprising form of racing bulls, he will always be
an attractive driver for the remainder of the grid, as Aston Martin seems to have a competitive
edge over the others due to the relationship with Honda from 2026 onwards. However, even the
situation in Red Bull doesn't seem as brilliant as they would like it to be, because as I mentioned
earlier in the video, replacing Perez might take a bit more commitment than usual because he still
has one year of his contract left, which is worth around $16 million. So far, the Austrian team has
been in full command of their drivers' contracts, and we saw that with de Vries and Ricciardo,
as well as Gasly and Albon back in 2019 and 2020. But nevertheless, Perez might be a bit of a
difficult pill to swallow, because not only is he bringing massive financial support to the team,
he is also going to ask for his payout if Red Bull doesn't want to continue the collaboration with
him. Which is quite fair from his side, as they are the ones who want to break the contract,
not Sergio. On top of that, the team lost around $20 million by dropping from P1 to P3 in the
Constructors' Championship alone. So the employees that were promised tons of bonuses are now going
to be very disgruntled if they don't see any changes to the lineup that effectively caused
this entire shake-up, Perez in particular. Although he insists that the contract stands
as it is, and when talking about it, he added,
Like I said, we are going to talk in the coming days. We will discuss the situation from both
parties and see if we are able to reach an agreement. If not, like I said, I've got a
contract for next year. But it's interesting to see that this is the first time that Perez has
shown some vulnerability because he has been adamant that he is the one who is going to decide
when the relationship ends. And now that doesn't seem to be the realistic option. It's Red Bull
who has to clear all of the speculation with Perez first and then focus on the talented drivers,
like Horner labelled the racing bull's pair-up. With all this in mind, do you think that Perez's
tenure in Red Bull is done and dusted? And if so, who do you think will replace him? Let us
know in the comments below. And if you want to learn more about the greatest moments from the
testing, have a look at the video that's appearing on your screen right now.
