Best News Ever:Red Bull now holding talks with £185k-a-week driver over potential race seat; who could replace Perez due to…

One of the key focuses of the upcoming Hungarian Grand Prix will be the performance of the four Red Bull Racing drivers on the grid.

Max Verstappen will be hoping to extend his lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship after missing out on victory at the previous two races.

 

Yuki Tsunoda is the other driver whose future appears to be safe after already signing a new contract for 2025.

However, for Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo, the pressure is on as soon as they take to the track at the Hungaroring.

Dutch journalist and broadcaster Nelson Valkenburg was speaking on The Race Podcast about the situation at Red Bull.

Perez is under serious pressure at the moment and could lose his seat as soon as the summer break.

Liam Lawson is one driver who could replace Perez due to his immediate availability within the team.

However, Red Bull will be exploring every option available to them especially if they decide to part ways with Ricciardo at the end of the season and need to find a pair of drivers for 2025.

Valkenburg believes that Red Bull will be holding talks with Carlos Sainz behind the scenes as they may need an experienced driver to replace Perez.

Not only that, but Verstappen’s future at Red Bull is far from concrete and if he decided to join Mercedes, then suddenly Lawson is no longer the right man to make that step up.

There are still so many moving parts in the driver’s market and it’s why the £185,000-a-week driver can’t commit to a new team despite having known for months that he’s set to lose his seat at Ferrari.

Red Bull will be holding talks with Carlos Sainz due to Sergio Perez uncertainty
Talking about the ongoing situation at Red Bull, Valkenburg said: “This is when it becomes a matter of the heart and if Christian Horner really, really believes that Daniel [Ricciardo] deserves this chance, you could imagine the whole Red Bull family putting him in for half a season.

“And if he doesn’t stack up and we all think that he’s not doing the job we all hoped he would do if that continues at Red Bull, then it’s the end of the line basically.

“You then have half of the season with [Liam] Lawson in the V-CARB, you get half of the season with Daniel in the Red Bull.

“And in the meantime, I’m pretty sure Carlos Sainz is talking to Red Bull and seeing how this all shakes out.

“It might well end up with Lawson staying at V-CARB and then parachuting in Sainz for next year to have the insurance against [Max] Verstappen leaving.

“That’s a scenario but it takes a lot of goodwill from a lot of drivers to make that work.”

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Carlos Sainz’s history with Red Bull could make 2025 move more difficult
On paper, Sainz is by far the most sensible option for Red Bull should they want a long-term replacement for Sergio Perez at the end of the year.

It may even make sense for Red Bull to explore whether to buy the Spaniard out of his contract if they’re that concerned about losing the Constructors’ Championship to Mercedes or McLaren.

However, Sainz’s previous time alongside Verstappen when they were at Toro Rosso is one of the reasons why talks have not progressed sooner.

Issues between the Sainz and Verstappen camps during that season could reoccur if Sainz was signed by Red Bull.

Verstappen’s team are said to be reluctant to want Sainz to join the team and given how important he is right now considering they don’t necessarily have the fastest car and Mercedes are publicly courting him, they will do whatever they can to keep him happy.

That may end up being a detriment to the long-term success of Red Bull and will pile further pressure on Lawson if he does step up to replace Perez as he’ll be constantly compared to the three-time race winner.