With just over two months of the Formula 1 season remaining – but a lot of racing still to go – it’s only natural that the 2024 silly season would kick into full swing around this time of year.
However, so many of the 20 seats available on the 2024 grid have already been filled, with likely champions Red Bull sticking with their two drivers from 2023 along with Ferrari, Mercedes, Alpine, McLaren and Aston Martin doing the same.In fact, there is only one of the 10 teams who do not have at least one driver under contract to race with them for 2024: AlphaTauri.
Several unknowns hang over Red Bull’s second team in 2024. Not just what their identity will be, but who will drive for them.
AlphaTauri is unique on the grid as they are the only team which exists as a development ground for another – in this case, Red Bull. While other teams like Haas or Williams have strong relationships with larger teams like Ferrari and Mercedes, only AlphaTauri are operated not to try and win championship titles but to nurture driving talent.
Next season, Red Bull will have an intriguing choice of drivers for their team currently known as AlphaTauri. Yuki Tsunoda is about to reach the end of his third season with the team – usually the crucial threshold for Red Bull to decide whether to promote or release a driver from their junior team. But outgoing team principal Franz Tost has indicated the 23-year-old will be given a fourth consecutive season with the team in 2024.
Meanwhile, after dropping Nyck de Vries before the mid season, AlphaTauri brought back Daniel Ricciardo into the team. However, the 33-year-old was taken out of action at Zandvoort when he broke his hand in a practice crash.
Liam Lawson was therefore called up as the fourth different driver to appear for AlphaTauri this year. Has he therefore joined the ranks of potential racers for 2024?
So who should Red Bull choose out of the three to race for their junior team in 2024? And what about some of their other options in Formula 2?
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The candidates
Red Bull’s junior programme is nothing if not extensive, boasting the biggest roster of affiliated drivers in F2 of any of the teams with no fewer than six F2 drivers in 2023 having the backing of the world champions. Jak Crawford, Enzo Fittipaldi, Isack Hadjar, Dennis Hauger, Ayumu Iwasa and Zane Maloney all represent the Red Bull junior programme in the official feeder series to the world championship.
While all three could cross 40 points if they take a major points haul from Abu Dhabi, any of them could also gain two bonus points if they participate in two Friday practice sessions and cover at least 100 kilometres in each, without incurring any penalty points in the process. So if Red Bull really did want to promote ether Hadjar, Hauger or Maloney for 2024, there is a path to get them on the grid.
Meanwhile, Iwasa has already earned enough points to qualify for a superlicence due to his achievements over the last three years and currently sits third in the F2 standings – the same position that both Lawson and Alfa Romeo driver Zhou Guanyu finished in before they eventually stepped up to F1 the following season.
Alternatively, Red Bull could bring back Tsunoda for a fourth year and even Ricciardo after his comeback to F1 was cut shorter than planned. But if Lawson continues to show his competency behind the wheel, there’s always the option to give the New Zealand driver a full season entry in Formula 1 to see how he fares.
Finally, there’s always the option of bringing back the driver they ran for the first ten rounds of the 2023 season: Nyck de Vries. While highly unlikely, it’s not like Red Bull have never brought back former drivers into AlphaTauri before…
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I say
The choice of which two drivers Red Bull should run for AlphaTauri next season depends on their goals. Do they want the strongest line up of drivers possible to achieve the best results and the most points they can, or do they want to test out two of their younger prospects by putting them in the ultimate testing ground of Formula 1?
If nurturing young talent is the plan, then Lawson has a golden opportunity to stake his claim for a seat during his substitution stint. While Tsunoda is only 23 and clearly not the finished package, there’s an argument that keeping him at the team for a fourth season over giving Iwasa a shot would be to waste an opportunity to see if the younger Japanese driver would be any better than the older one. However, with Red Bull’s future not tied to Honda, it could be that Lawson will prove the more attractive option – especially when he will already have multiple races under his belt.
Ultimately, what Red Bull will likely want is a mix of experience and potential in their two drivers. So, with that in mind, surely the best combination available would be a multiple grand prix winner in Ricciardo and a driver who deserves a shot at a full season in Lawson.
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You say
Who should drive for AlphaTauri next year? Cast your votes below and have your say in the comments.
Which two drivers should the current AlphaTauri team run in 2024? (Choose two)
- Nyck de Vries (1%)
- Yuki Tsunoda (21%)
- Daniel Ricciardo (29%)
- Zane Maloney (if he qualifies) (1%)
- Liam Lawson (40%)
- Ayumu Iwasa (7%)
- Dennis Hauger (if he qualifies) (1%)
- Isack Hadjar (if he qualifies) (0%)
Total Voters: 157
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Debates and polls
- Will Alonso win a world championship title with Aston Martin?
- How long should Red Bull give Ricciardo to prove he’s not lost his touch?
- Were stewards right to penalise Alonso over his driving before Russell’s crash?
- Are Williams right to bench Sargeant so Albon can race after crash?
- Is the FIA right to make ten seconds the new standard for penalties?
BlueChris (@bluechris)
10th September 2023, 12:12
There are options missing for me.
I personally would had got Norris in RB and AT will have Perez & Riciardo
Axel
10th September 2023, 12:40
Not really possible atm because of the contract situations. If we were to ignore those we would have to look at the complete grid which gets a bit too much imo. For 2025 or 2026 it would be more realistic
Imre (@f1mre)
10th September 2023, 14:00
What would be the point of the AT driver lineup?
Stephen Taylor
10th September 2023, 16:26
Norris has a fixed Macca contract until the end of 2025.
Hosford90
10th September 2023, 19:51
That is…a terrible opinion.
Olivier
11th September 2023, 8:22
Would Norris be willing to be the number two driver though?
I can see Perez replacing Stroll at Aston Martin.
Ian Tommins (@thelem)
11th September 2023, 9:29
An F1 driver will convince themselves that they are the best, so even if hired as a number 2, as soon as they are given equal equipment then they will show the team that they are the better driver and therefore earn number 1 status on merit, if not in the first year then at least by the start of the second. An extreme example of this is Hamilton’s first season – a rookie against the reigning world champion.
Having said that, I can’t see Norris moving to Red Bull next year. They aren’t desperate enough to break the contracts. 2025 is another matter.
paulsf1fix
12th September 2023, 13:55
That would nice! Perez would be apricated at Aston Martin as well.
Coventry Climax
11th September 2023, 9:14
The one and only logic option will Red Bull deciding, based on all the relevant factors they have knowledge of; simulator data, lap timing, psychlogical assessments, financial data etc.
None of us here have that full picture.
I know, it’s boring and doesn’t give us much to talk about, but that’s what’s going to happen, not what we, here at Racefans, collectively feel should happen.
Sandwhichands
10th September 2023, 12:27
I personally have to imagine that Alpha Taurus is a development team for more than just drivers. I then imagine that an experienced driver like Riccardo is a great addition due to his experience across multiple teams. Can he fill this role in reserve? Probably, but I bet it’s better when he is in the seat. If you want to nurture the team, not just the drivers, then he seems like a good choice.
Lee That's Me (@leethatsme)
10th September 2023, 12:35
It’s not a massively inspiring choice, and I’d prefer to see Danny Ric move up to RB. If that’s not possible then it’s between him, Lawson and Iwasa. Tsunoda has had a good chance with not much to show from it other than entertaining radio outbursts.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
10th September 2023, 18:11
Tsunoda so far is outperforming everyone he meets in the team since gasly left, I’m not convinced he deserves to be out of alpha tauri.
anon
10th September 2023, 21:37
@esploratore1 it’s not exactly a meaningful comparison – whilst Tsunoda beat de Vries, he was also criticised for some poor mistakes and there was a perception that de Vries was performing below expectations.
After that, you have just two races with Ricciardo and Tsunoda racing, where it was 1-1 in terms of performance between Tsunoda and Ricciardo in terms of qualifying performance and in terms of races finished ahead of the other driver. It’s a fairly vague indication at best, and in reality far too limited a set of results for any real judgement to be made.
As for Lawson and Tsunoda, Tsunoda’s had the advantage so far in qualifying, but they’ve only driven one race head to head, given Tsunoda broke down in Monza before the race started. Realistically, the race data is similarly far too limited for any sensible conclusions to be drawn.
RH
11th September 2023, 9:43
The comparisons to Gasly are more telling anyways. Tsunoda was matching upto Gasly last season and Gasly has himself shown to be quite the match for Ocon who was at least in qualifying close to Alonso.
Tsunoda can’t be terribly far off good midfield drivers like Ocon everything considered, and in fact given his early introduction to F1 it is likely that he can be at their level if not better given that he still has room to grow.
At the end of the day you can only beat what’s in front of you. Tsunoda finished De Vries off. That’s all that matters. And unless Lawson is already better than Gasly I don’t expect him to be a match for Tsunoda at all. Ricciardo is an unknown admittedly.
HAL
11th September 2023, 16:09
So, you basically means Tsunoda has only been able to beat 1 driver: Nick de Vries… who was a rookie in F1. So that was the least he could do.
Surely, we cannot really compare to RIC who jumped in the car mid season for 2 GP, and even less with Liam who jumped in the car mid season being a full F1 rookie. And yet both of them were quite close to Yuki in terms of performance…
I mean Tsunoda is no slouch, he can drive and is a decent F1 driver. But he’s in his 3rd season now… He had so much more time than most driver and he is still not very impressive. Reminds me a bit Giovinazzi… Unless Honda is pushing for it, I don’t see why RB would continue with him.
HAL
11th September 2023, 16:18
So to answer the subject of this article – if no need to satisfy Honday, I would bet on Dany Ric and Liam Lawson.
Or even go crazy (you never now with their 80 years old racist managing the junior program) and put Lawson and Palou in the car.
Now, realistically, AT will not sign anyone before the end of the season – they will wait to see what Lawson will do in Asia and continue testing RIC till the end of the season.
pmatthews03 (@pmatthews03)
10th September 2023, 12:41
I don’t see Tsunoda or Iwasa having a long term future in the Red Bull programme given that their F1 teams have two more years with Honda power. While Tsunoda has improved, he’s not strong enough in his own right to justify staying.
The no brainer choice is surely Ricciardo and Lawson, especially as Red Bull’s priority is surely who will they put in the senior team for 2025.
Axel
10th September 2023, 12:42
If the AT seats are to give drivers a ‘shoot-out’ for the 2025 RB seat, Ricciardo and Lawson seems a logocal choice. I think Tsunoda has shown too little in the past three years, like Buemi and Vergne before him. Ricciardo does seem to have it in him and Lawson seems like the most promising of the junior drivers to me.
Ciaran (@ciaran)
10th September 2023, 12:56
I think Tsunoda hasn’t improved enough to warrant a promotion, and given that Iwasa would similarly please Honda, he should be given a shot instead.
If Ricciardo is really back to his best, then Alpha Tauri/Red Bull would surely see this by the end of this season. So there’s not much reason to run him in 2024. Lawson makes the strongest argument for replacing him here.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
10th September 2023, 13:01
I think it has to be Ricciardo and Lawson. I am not sure Tsunoda has done enough really. He’s fairly consistent and has reached a certain level but I don’t ever see him being a candidate for the main Red Bull team. This being the case then, there is no real need for him to continue at AT. Three years is enough.
I think it’s a bit early to judge Ricciardo’s comeback yet but I also think it’s too early to write-off his career as an F1 driver. My gut feeling is that he still has something to offer. Then Lawson seems to have shown some promise in his first two races so it make sense to give him the opportunity at AT, based on what we have seen so far.
It might actually depend on the attitude of Honda or how many suits or shoes Hugo Boss want to sell in which market. If the rumours are true about them becoming the main sponsors of the current AT/Torro Rosso team. It is Japan/the far east or the U.S.?
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
10th September 2023, 13:18
The other point we should make is that a lot can change, quickly in F1. There are still quite a lot of races to go this year. It was only a few races ago that some were writing of Carlos Sainz as a Ferrari driver. Now, quite suddenly really, he is the hero of the moment.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
10th September 2023, 13:04
Verstappen.
Biker56 (@biker56)
10th September 2023, 23:50
+1
MichaelN
10th September 2023, 13:11
Red Bull should not be allowed to have two teams.
That said, if they’re still pretending ‘it’s a junior team and therefore it’s fine’, Lawson and Iwasa are the obvious picks.
Tsunoda hasn’t shown enough in three years, Ricciardo’s best years are long behind him, De Vries missed his chance, and the others are uncertain to qualify.
Electroball76
10th September 2023, 13:55
It would be interesting to know how much AT are bringing much to the table in terms of car or driver development for the Red Bull team, and whether it is actually worth the money they sink into it.
Alesici
10th September 2023, 13:54
It seems Racefans has caught F1’s and Alpha Tauri’s blindness to the blindingly obvious choice.
Alex Palou has absolutely destroyed the most competitive Indycar field ever, like no driver ever has. His driving style would suit F1 very well, and I sense he impressed Mclaren a lot more in F1 testing than Herta. But Mclaren have 2 great drivers in 2 seats, whilst Red Bull/AT have 1 great driver across 4 seats. So Palou to AT makes perfect sense. Given a year to acclimatise in AT, he would definitely be ready to step up to Red Bull in 2025. But Ricciardo’s injury came at a time Palou couldn’t substitute for him, and has muddied the water, which will delay AT’s 2024 decision too long for Palou to decide on his 2024 plans.
Imre (@f1mre)
10th September 2023, 14:05
He has no ties with Red Bull. There are many other more “obvious” choices than him.
Jere (@jerejj)
10th September 2023, 15:00
Alesici – Palou was never a genuine option anyway.
anon
10th September 2023, 21:50
Alesici, Palou himself has indicated that the way that he has handled the contractual disputes with Ganassi and McLaren over the past couple of years have probably cost him any chance of competing in F1, as it seems that teams don’t want to get caught up in Palou’s legal troubles.
Alesici
10th September 2023, 23:00
It seems this blindness is contagious…
The article is titled who *should* they sign for next year. They should sign him. Obviously.
And as far as I understand, he remains an option. I’ve never heard Palou say who he’s driving for in 2024. Last year has taught me not to believe teams when they say a driver will be driving for them, without the driver actively agreeing.
The lack of ties with Red Bull is not particularly relevant if their own drivers aren’t as good as him.
MichaelV12 (@michaelv12)
12th September 2023, 21:56
Palou is very good. Whether he wants to do F1 with AT is another matter – he is in a great place where he is. Also, he’s not yet won the Indy 500. He has a second place, a fourth and a ninth place at Indianapolis with Ganassi. I think he’d like to drink that milk… it’s the “big one” in the States.
Maybe if he could go to one of the higher ranked F1 teams, but I don’t really see why he would consider Alpha Tauri. I could see Palou at McLaren if Norris should go elsewhere at some point, or the second Aston Martin.
Just my gut feeling, nothing more.
Shimks (@shimks)
10th September 2023, 14:06
It still boggles my mind that RB are allowed to run a second team.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
10th September 2023, 18:22
It certainly is an advantage, apart from trialing stuff for developing the car, but even when you have underperforming second drivers, you can swap them out, historically top teams don’t get the chance to do that.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
10th September 2023, 18:24
It’s even more glaring an issue because of how f1 is opposing going beyond 10 teams, cause if the other big teams had a choice on being able to bring in a 2nd team it would be less unfair.
Tristan
10th September 2023, 21:20
No rule is stopping Ferrari, Mercedes or McLaren from buying out Williams, Sauber or Haas.
The paddock has no issues with it (or there would have been some legal challenge by now,) so I don’t see why we should as fans.
Coventry Climax
11th September 2023, 9:51
Like Tristan says, there’s nothing in the rules to withhold other teams from doing the same.
And to an extent, they actually are already doing it, with all the power units, full suspensions etc. that teams are allowed to buy from one another.
That extent is also limited, as there is a list of things they’re allowed to buy, and hence also a ‘list’ (all other things) of things they are obliged to design themselves. This is no different for Alpha Tauri.
Personally, I’d like to not see the list of ‘buyables’ grow every season, but instead get smaller, to the point where it doesn’t exist anymore and every team has to design each and every part by themselves. That would make the constructors championship truly valuable again.
The current situation is, that the rules restrict the options for all competitors to try and come up with solutions to beat the opposition. It’s my firm belief that all these rules to ‘create an equal playing field’ are counterproductive. There have always been rules already, and they have always been equal to all teams, meaning the playing field has always been equal already. Possible exception being the prize money Ferrari got (gets? I have no idea about the current standings of that) for just being there.
Le Jimster (@lejimster82)
10th September 2023, 14:21
We need to see what Ricciardo can do when he comes back. Performance wise was decent at times in Spa and Hungary, but mistakes meant no chance of points.
Lawson has been more impressive considering he has no GP experience and less prep than Ricciardo and almost scoring points in his 2nd race, which is where Yuki has been racing most of the season.
As if stands right now on performance Lawson and Yuki would be the options. If it’s about experience and car development then Ricciardo gets a near automatic seat if he can score points at some point. If he can’t show the performance they won’t keep him.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
10th September 2023, 18:28
And if ricciardo can’t prove he deserves an alpha tauri seat, it’s over for him in f1, no team would take the mclaren version of him.
PacificPR (@streydt)
10th September 2023, 14:35
I have voted for Iwasa an Lawson as in terms of AlphaTauri being a development team for Red Bull. However it could all hinge on future plans with AlphaTauri, will it be rebranded and used as a second team – or will it get a completely different identity and used for a different marketing strategy. With Ford coming in 2026 I wouldn’t be surprised if they will focus on the American market and create or acquire a new identity. Maybe Team Shadow? In that case it would make a lot of sense to have Ricciardo in one car (being popular in the states) and maybe indeed Lawson or as someone else mentioned Palou.
Neil (@neilosjames)
10th September 2023, 14:39
The purpose of Alpha Tauri is to benefit the big Red Bull team, and that includes reviewing potential drivers for them.
With that in mind, I haven’t seen enough from Tsunoda to suggest he’s good enough to be promoted so I think he should go. Ricciardo – if he can re-find his old form – could be good enough, so I’d keep him. And Lawson looks the leading alternative of those currently outside F1, so I’d give him the seat vacated by Tsunoda.
Jere (@jerejj)
10th September 2023, 14:58
Tsunoda-Lawson was an easy choice for me, although the references about super license situations contradict what I read earlier this year, which are as follows:
Iwasa is still ineligible but will most certainly become eligible once the F2 campaign is over, as 7th in the drivers’ championship would be enough & he’s quite a few points above that position in 3rd place.
Hauger, Hadjar, & Maloney already hold SLs/are eligible through points from previous championship outcomes.
The other two are indeed ineligible & won’t reach eligibility this year anymore & not the first time I’ve seen contradictory info about super license situations since 2016, which is weird because only one thing can be true at once.
However, pondering any of these five is pretty pointless because none of these would become an AlphaTauri for next season anyway, i.e., only Lawson would replace Ricciardo or Tsunoda.
Btw, the source from where I got the above references is https://twitter-dot-com/_Dan_Castell/Status/1627327851904045058 from February, meaning situations heading into the ongoing F2 campaign.
Jere (@jerejj)
10th September 2023, 15:01
I forgot to type that I’m surprised De Vries is in the poll because he most certainly won’t be one of them in any case.
Simon
10th September 2023, 21:09
Because you didn’t predict it?
Jere (@jerejj)
10th September 2023, 21:27
No, I saw that when I voted, but once I started typing about the more relevant aspects, I simply forgot to add that side note.
Michael Counsell
10th September 2023, 15:07
The Red Bull driver programme has lost a lot of momentum. For the best part of a decade Red Bull promoted drivers from F3 / GP3 straight to F1 and they proved to be somewhere between capable and two all time greats. Vettel, Riccardo, Alguesuari, Vergne, Kvyat, Verstappen, Sainz are some of the youngest drivers in F1 history and all skipped GP2 and went straight to Torro Rosso (sometimes via a stand in drive at another team). With the superlicense rules the way they are the Red Bull driver programme is not as appealing to the top young talent as it can’t fast track them to an F1 seat and cannot help them secure stand in drives. It could be argued that the superlicense point system has negated the benefits of having a second team. Drivers are better off being number one young prospect at a team than being third, fourth, fifth, sixth in line at Red Bull.
Josh (@canadianjosh)
10th September 2023, 15:26
If Perez finishes 2nd in the championship and Red Bull win the constructors and drivers championship, what more do they need? The only position Perez can finish ahead of 2nd is World Champion. This topic boggles my mind. Perez is the guy I’d go with if I was Red Bull. As a fan I’d love Alonso or Hamilton in that 2nd car but it’d turn into a nightmare for Red Bull (Mercedes 2014-2016) albeit extremely entertaining. Horner and Marko need to be careful what they wish for.
SteveP
10th September 2023, 17:35
If?
He can afford to average a loss of points relative to Alonso of 6 points per race weekend and still collect the 2nd place trophy.
In that car, dropping that many points is a pretty solid reason to allow him to “seek other career development opportunities”
Josh (@canadianjosh)
10th September 2023, 18:11
Ok what is your argument though? The season still has some races to go and he’s 2nd in points in a very good car and I highly doubt he finishes lower than 2nd. I’m trying to say why would Red Bull sack a driver who finishes 2nd in points behind Verstappen who will be champion? In my opinion he’s done his job. This reminds me so much of 2014/2015 when everyone wanted Rosberg replaced.
Josh (@canadianjosh)
10th September 2023, 18:16
SteveP, here’s a question. I agree if he drops 6 pts a race to Alonso every race he should be replaced. But what if he finishes runner up to Verstappen? Would you still replace him? If you would still sack him after finishing 2nd can you expain why.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
10th September 2023, 18:38
It depends what red bull wants: perez is certainly not doing a good job overall, he will likely end up second, but that’s a reflection of the car’s strength, not his performance, he was only good early on this year, then faded. If they want someone who’s a bit closer to verstappen, like ricciardo was when they were team mates, there’s good reason to replace perez, but it’s also a matter of how strong next year’s car will be: the more competition from other teams there is, the more you need 2 strong drivers, and the less, the more you can get away with an underperforming one.
Think about the bottas’ situation, when he was fired by mercedes: he wasn’t doing all that badly, but mercedes took the decision to go for russell, thinking they would get more of a challenge from other teams, and that’s indeed what happened, in the 2022-2023 situation, without such a strong car any more, it doesn’t seem a bad decision to have 2 strong drivers who can overtake\defend aggressively.
Ankita
11th September 2023, 14:56
Bottas was all over the place in 2021. He was not in a position to help HAM to secure the championship even though he had the best car, especially in the second part of the season. Plus, there was this young talent knocking on the door. None of these elements is present at RBR. True, PER could, and should, be second in all races. His qualifying is terrible and has always been (although he outqualified Button in 2013 while at McLaren). But what other choice does RBR have ? RIC is a bad choice for two alternative reasons. If he is as bad as he was at McLaren, then he is of no use. If he finds pace, he will race VER and will not accept being the second driver (for fear of that, he left RBR).
So, for 2024, RBR has no other option, really … .
SteveP
10th September 2023, 19:27
Neutral.
I think at this point in the season, in a car like that, 145 points down on his teammate puts him on thin ice. If he falls behind Alonso, then he’s likely to find someone else sitting in the seat. It matters not whether the design of the car favours the preferred style of one driver or the other, RBR will look at stats and then consider who would upset MV least.
I was intrigued by the article with comments from Magnussen about V and U cornering styles, and think that probably applies to the different performances of Verstappen and Perez.
HAL
11th September 2023, 16:30
I’m with Esploratere on this one.
Sure Perez will likely finish 2nd and he couldn’t be higher than that. But he was very far off Verstappen… Honestly, as much as Gasly (who only had 12 GP and was very young) and Albon (who had more time, but was even younger).
The problem is of course what happen next year if the RB is not as dominating as this year… Even with one of the most dominating car all time, Perez has been struggling to beat the other teams in many instances. So if next year RB’s rivals are closer, what will happen ? Will Verstappen be facing alone 2 Ferrari’s, 2 Mercs etc ? Or will Perez be better with a less dominating car ?
David BR (@david-br)
10th September 2023, 16:04
Lawson, Tsunoda, unless Norris goes to Red Bull (apparently that’s a rumour gossip thing) then Ricciardo stays at AlphaTauri.
Alternatively Verstappen goes to AlphaTauri to boost them on the basis that they just need a ‘very good’ driver at Red Bull anyhow. ‘Generational talent’ not required.
Dex
10th September 2023, 16:18
I suppose Lawson will have the advantage of being Anglo-Saxon in these polls, but he seems decent enough. Iwasa did look like a better prospect to me though, but he’s inconsistent. On the other hand, consistency is something you perfect, speed usually isn’t in that age. I don’t think there are great prospects to choose from at all, so it’s going to be short term anyway. RB will still be looking for someone like Norris, Leclerc, Russel, Piastri etc., when they were in F2, and hoping for some new Verstappen by some miracle. These won’t last for more than 2-3 years anyway.
Erkr
11th September 2023, 11:09
Iwasa has largely been inconsistent as the DAMS team have been rubbish. The Anglo-Saxon bias is also unfortunate across all F1 commentary
melanos
10th September 2023, 16:52
I like Dan Ric and I would love to be wrong but I am afraid his mojo is gone for good. Anyway if he gets it back he should upgrade to RB, not stay in RB, he is no rookie. Lawson is ok for AT, but I do not see the point in downgrading Checo to AT, he is senior enough, if he cannot do the job at RBR he should try another team.
The one I would really want to see driving the RB alongside Max is Fred but it is not going to happen I guess. And in AT along with Lawson, I do not believe Yuki Tsunoda is going to do much better than he has already which is not exactly earth-shaking. I would like to see new talent, maybe one of these Hadjar, Hauger or Maloney if they get enough super license points.
Haas Khan (@haas918)
10th September 2023, 19:35
Liam Lawson looked decent in his two races so far so he should be given a chance next year and I would go with Ricciardo as the second driver as he couldn’t get much chance because of his injury to showcase what he could do at AlphaTauri.
Sch (@z1george)
10th September 2023, 20:28
Ric is an one trick pony, he had 1 big advantage with the old RB, the ability to brake just a little later and overtake in a corner. All his other cars, the Renault and McLarens, could give that 0,1 sec advantage in late breaking. Couldn’t adjust to a different car. His time is over in competitive racing.
I would go with Lawson and Iwasa. Nothing to lose
PMccarthy_is_a_legend (@pmccarthy_is_a_legend)
10th September 2023, 21:17
I thought Perez had a contract for 2024. I say Perez.
V. Chris (@vasschu)
10th September 2023, 20:10
For me one thing is certain – Ricciardo does not belong in AT. This team should develop young drivers.
Lawson was pretty solid in his first two races so I think he deserves chance ( I kinda hope they keep him for the rest of the season).
Peter Dunn
11th September 2023, 8:28
I agree. Lawson is impressing the right people at the right time. Only 21 and already has a very strong CV. Apart from youth he possesses what every racer needs at the top level…speed. Definitely a prospect for RB in a year or so.
Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
10th September 2023, 21:53
There just isn’t much young talent to get super excited about right now. Hopefully changes in a couple of years.
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
11th September 2023, 7:45
I think Ricciardo’s accident, as well as a small uptick in form, have secured Perez’s seat at Red Bull for 2024. I can’t see Red Bull being as dominant in 24 & 25 but I expect them to win the titles comfortably with Max as lead driver. The question for me is: once Alonso and Hamilton retire where will Max go and who will replace him?
My money is on Lando Norris as I don’t think RB have another Max in the pipeline and have been fans of his for a long time. I think McLaren have improved enough for him to stay there until Red Bull open up rather than jumping to Ferrari, for example.
Ultimately, this means Red Bull are looking for a 24 & 25 obsequious number 2 and 26 competitive number 2. Perez fits the bill for next year and I’d put Ricciardo in for 25 onwards – so he has to be in the AT next year.
The other seat should go to either Lawson or Tsunoda. I think Tsunoda has had a solid season but I’m struggling to think of truly great races in his career – his temperament still lets him down and, although his crashes are reduced, I still wouldn’t rely on him surviving the cauldron of the Red Bull seat. There’s been plenty of strong Toro Rosso drivers who have been dropped unfairly for the next driver.
The next driver this time is Lawson. Personally, I’ve never rated him but his performances on Holland was no embarrassment and at Monza he was good despite no benchmark to Yuki in the race. I’ve seen enough of him to know he isn’t the next Max but he could be good enough to beat Yuki. The trouble he has is that he doesn’t have any other feeder championships to go into, if he gets into F1 it has to be next year.
If Yuki is to stay it would be as a benchmark for Ricciardo, who has had a torrid time emotionally compounded with a serious injury. But I suspect Red Bull will go with Lawson and Ricciardo, with Yuki dropping out perhaps to Super Formula or Indycar.
moopy
11th September 2023, 8:19
The Tsunoda disrespect in these votes is insane.
Erkr
11th September 2023, 11:16
I agree. People saying he hasn’t achieved anything despite a the massively declining AT performance are either racially biased or barely watch the actual races. Also Lawson was 2 years in F2 weren’t particularly promising
swh1386 (@swh1386)
11th September 2023, 11:52
Honestly, I’d switch Ricciardo and Perez. Checo has been well below par against Max. We saw back in 2016-18 that Danny can take the fight to Max
Mayrton
11th September 2023, 12:07
They sure have a challenge in terms of line-up. From the current four seats I personally would only keep Verstappen. The other three will have to be replaced. Alonso or Lando as team mate of Max. Lawson and Iwasa in the satellite team as its purpose is to prepare talent. Keeping Perez anywhere on the grid is a waste of a seat. While I am on this topic let’s categorise the whole line-up: have to go list (8) Perez, Bottas, Guanyu, Stroll, Magnussen, Hulkenberg, Tsunoda and Sargeant. Under strong scrutiny and likely be out after 2024, I would then list (3) Ocon, Gasly, Ricciardo. To remain in F1 I would list (9) Max, Charles, Carlos, Lewis, George, Norris, Piastri, Albon & Alonso.
Paul
12th September 2023, 2:27
I’ve said for a while now there are only 2 certain drivers for the Red Bull Teams for 2024.
Verstappen in Red Bull
Lawson in Alpha Tauri
The other two places will be a mix of Perez or Ricciardo or Tsunoda. Tsunoda longer term future is outside Red Bull family so I think he is most likely to be on the chopping block. They need an experienced driver to rate Lawson with new year so either Ricciardo or Perez. At this time most likely Ricciardo as his return was cut short by the broken hand.
Perez will probably see out his final year in Red Bull Family next year, to be replaced by either Lawson or Ricciardo (For most likely his final year), whichever does better next year.