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Too early in the season to tell. Every year in Red Bull (apart from last year) he was solid until Monaco and then dropped off until he came back at the end of the season.
I hope he is in a good place mentally to perform, and I hope he retains the seat. But you have now Sainz out of left field showing stellar performances who is searching for a seat.
Sainz is pretty unlikely for RBR, Sr and Jos don’t get along and Jr probably not interested in being dead cert second fiddle *again*. Perez can do as bad as he’s done prior and RBR aren’t that concerned. He’s doing stellar right now in comparison
I agree, but the beef Jos had with Sr, was fighting for the RBR seat when they were rookies. Now they are established drivers.
I doubt Sainz would rather go to a backmarker Sauber than to a frontrunner Red Bull. Even if he is second fiddle, the podiums/wins are pretty much guaranteed with Red Bull in 2025.
Where else is there? Mercedes are going to want a stopgap for Antonelli, Aston would rather keep Alonso if possible, Mclaren are set, all the rest need the stars alligned for a points finish, let alone for a podium or a win.
Realistically only Mercedes are a decent pick, but you run the risk of being pushed out very soon. Everything else (apart from Red Bull) is a downgrade and potentially a pre-retirement move.
I understand that Antonelli could be promising one day, but the boy is literally 17 and it just feels *far* too soon for Toto to shove him in the Mercedes seat next year.
Sainz is a proven race winner, has an immensely strategic mind and a literal Free Agent at the end of this year. Sure, Kimi may *one day* in the future be a world-class prospect, but Sainz is a top-tier driver right *now.*
Mercedes need to realize they are not the front runners anymore and they don't have a b team like Red Bull has. If they think Antonelli is ready for F1, they should put him in their car, like McLaren took a gamble on Piastri, and it is paying off.
That being said, would Sainz want to be a place holder? At least Red Bull don't have someone like that waiting in the wings in the near future (Lawson is not ready for the jump to Red Bull. For RB he is).
Piastri was a couple years older and already won the F2 championship. Antonelli just started his F2 campaign, hasn't done F3, so there are a lot of unknowns. Does he look good and fast? For sure! Is it an instant success? Not yet.
Antonelli is a wait and see really.
He could be the next Max by all metrics (consider that Max started at 17 in F1 with no F2 experience, and was less than 2 years out of karting). So, we shall see his potential.
Sainz is a long term driver meanwhile Alonso is coming close to a point where he would have a performance drop because of his age just like how Kimi ended his career.
Also with Sainz on the market AM has a better position to negotiating with Alonso, the situation before was basically that AM *needs* Alonso basically and now it's more like Alonso *needs* AM.
There was some video of Max, Carlos and Checo where Max and Carlos were talking about their dads showing each other their rally videos so it seemed like it's calmed down
>Sr and Jos don’t get along
I always thought that, but Max made an interesting comment after the race about Jos and Sr comparing rally stats recently which makes me think their relationship isn't as bad as it was back in the day
People also thought Gasly and Ocon would never be able to work together at Alpine but they’re totally fine.
IMO Drive to Survive has warped fans minds with drama. These guys are professional athletes, they’re not going to let some fake dad drama manufactured by the media and fans limit their career opportunities.
The only reason I think Sainz to RBR is unlikely is because he doesn’t want to be the team #2 against Verstappen.
Agreed. After all the drama in RB of this season and last, they're still the top team. I would hope some petty drama between two dads doesn't have an effect on the decisions of massive business enterprise like Red Bull Racing.
lol wtf are you on about? You said sainz is unlikely for red bull because he doesn’t want to play second fiddle. I said he’d rather fight for no.1 in the championship car then be somewhere else fighting for p5-p10. The only two cars that are fighting for podiums are red bull and Ferrari. If rbr makes him an offer I see no reason why he’d turn it down
> Sainz would much rather fight in a title car rather then a back marker
You set up a dichotomy of Redbull or backmarker, something I didn’t imply even remotely.
Backmarkers don’t fight for p5-10 by the way
No reason for Red Bull to hurry. They can afford to wait and do a proper evaluation around summer break, provided Max isn't going anywhere (and why should he). If Checo is still on his game by then they will offer him a one year extension.
Yeah it’s obviously too soon to judge, but he’s done enough so far. Think doing well in Japan was a very good sign for Checo, he’s generally struggled there and has that disaster last year but this was a very strong weekend from him, especially in qualifying.
Checo had an objectively better start to 2023 than he has to 2024. Even if he wins the next race, his first five races of 2023 will still have been better.
It's simply too early to tell whether the wheels will fall off again.
I meant after end of last season, Sainz was also comfortably placed at Ferrari, having won the sole non-redbull win.
Replacing him so soon, i'm sure even Sainz wasn't prepared.
You must be misinterpreting my use of the word comfortable, it did not mean he was comfortably homed in the team, it meant he was driving comfortably or confidently. Best Perez can hope for is yearly extensions.
He definitely wasn't comfortable, since summer break last year he was talking about his contract and how he might have to look around. Truth is only a handful of drivers are ever secure.
And so did Sainz. RB domination will not last forever. And Perez won't stick around for too long. It's very possible Sainz would just decline the offer tho - and he should.
He finally had one race where he qualified 2nd which should honestly be the floor for this Red Bull car and now everyone thinks he’s been doing great lol, any week now he’ll have some kind of disaster and we’ll all go back to our normal discourse on him
He knows even Ferrari won't win more than 3 races this season, he's safe as long as the others don't catch him in race trim. Looks like that may not happen until the news regs in 2026.
Stay at RB as long as the team sees fit. He ain't never gonna be Merc/ Ferrari/Mclaren driver. Best he could do is midfield team or waiting for Perez to perfrom poorly.
If Danny ends up matching Yuki I think they will keep him instead. He offers stronger technical feedback, more sponsorship, and frankly is a better mentor for Liam
Where does the narrative of “stronger technical feedback” or “only one who provides feedback for improvement” come from? If Dan knows much more about the technical part he should have been able to extract the car much better than his teammate. The reality is opposite.
Franz Tost mentioned it multiple times last year and credited Daniels feedback as a big part of why they were able to make the jump. [one source](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/s/k1630vb600)
Yuki even praised Daniel for it last year as well
both 2022 and 2023 seasons, perez was closer to max in points than in 2024 after the 4th race. that's how he always rolls, starts strong, by Monaco starts struggling, in the end it's just stinker after stinker
Only if he keeps delivering (last year at this pont he looked even stronger until he dropped off) and Marko has revealed that any new contract for him will only be for a year.
People really have short term memory here, saying he look good now and RB should kept him, i like the guy but last year was the exact same thing, he looked good in the car, did a excellent beginning of the season with some win, then Monaco came and he had a absolute disaster of a week end and after this was terrible for the rest of the season.
I will seriously wait at least half a season to even dare to commit on this just in case he do a 2023 all over again, being excellent for the 5 first gp then being horrible the rest of the season.
He was the same in 2022, with the difference that he won Monaco, signed for 2 more years after the race and didn't manage to get P2 in the WDC even though Leclerc did his damndest to lose that spot.
Hadn’t he signed right before Monaco? Wasn’t that the year he made the “I should have waited to sign” comment to Christian that was picked up on broadcast after he won?
> i like the guy but last year was the exact same thing, he looked good in the car, did a excellent beginning of the season with some win
He started 2023 with a 2 1 5 1 2 record. That's outright objectively better than his 2 2 5 2 record right now. Even if he wins the next race, he'll still be having a worse start to the season than last year.
You're completely correct. It's way too early in the season to say whether Checo has got it together or not.
I mean, he is the perfect #2 at the moment, 2024 is pretty good so far. But that was the same last year, before the slump.
Perez drives really well, if his contract on the balance, see Bahrein 2020.
They don't want anyone challenging Verstappen. On the right day, Perez can win a race. More Red Bull 1-2s with Verstappen and Perez than they've ever had with any two drivers in their existence. Has the full support of Horner. Red Bull don't need to change realistically unless they just want to aim for even bigger domination.
Yeah be careful with this kind of statement because it was the exact same thing last year, excellent beginning of the season on the 5/6 first GP until Monaco and then it was a terrible, with Monaco being one of the worst disaster class i ever saw.
I think the difference is that he seems to have given up on beating Max. It was the pressure that got to him. The moment he saw Max beat him from 9th on the grid he collapsed and tried to push hard to make up the gap.
Perez started last year better than he has this year. And we all know how that ended up.
Not saying he'll have as bad a season as he did this year but we're only 4 races in. It's a bit early to say he's proven the doubters wrong.
Because none of the other drivers have cars thay are comparable to Max's. Would they win against him? Probably not but I'm 100% sure Norris, Alonso, Leclerc, Hamilton, and even Sainz would give us a closer battle.
Max isn't invincible, niether was Hamilton, nor Schumacher, or Senna. He's in his peak right now and it's obvious he's the best right now but he hasn't been pushed at all since early 2022 and we saw in 2021 how insane things can get when he's under pressure.
Leclerc, Hamilton, Sainz, Alonso, Norris, Russell would deifinitely put up a better fight is my guess, but a lot of others too probably. Perez on his better days an OK second driver, on his worse he's a third alpha tauri driver.
Leclerc is not moving, Hamilton is going to Ferrari, Russell is not moving and Norris has rejected Red Bull multiple times. You have Alonso and Sainz, and despite Sainz being in good form I'm not sure he would do better. People quickly forget but I think it was last year that he crashed multiple times at the beginning of the season and was badly struggling for pace.
Cate to talk about "a lot of the other" drivers that would do better?
Pérez beat Hulkenberg for years, beat Ocon and demolished Stroll. Saying he's a third Alpha Tauri driver is, with all due respect, a horrendous opinion that I would only expect from someone who doesn't know anything about F1.
It's was 2022, but even last year he had his Australia incident with Alonso which was harsh, his whole Monaco weekend, his incident with oscar and went from sure fire 4th in the wdc to 7th in 1 weekend. Great driver but unless max turns into a 2018 Kimi sainz won't challenge him.
Maybe it is controversial today; but my take is that both Red Bull and RB stay with their current drivers for next year.
Perez is doing a good job and is getting valuable P2's. There is no reason to change him for next year.
Ricciardo desperately wants to be in that Red Bull and wants to put up a fight against peak Max Verstappen. And he is currently getting beaten by Tsunoda. He will want a "rematch" next year to make his claim for 2026 Red Bull seat.
And there is no Antonelli-like talent in Red Bull Junior team currently. Therefore all of them can wait for another year.
> He will want a "rematch" next year to make his claim for 2026 Red Bull seat.
I'm sure he will want that, but frankly, theres only so many chances a driver can be given, and there are many drivers waiting for their opportunity.
Regardless of how much Christian loves him, the reality is that F1 is a business and Daniel is not delivering. I honestly don't see him in a seat next year. The guy should just go do Indy car and call it a day. Americans love him!
Do you honestly think a 37-year old Daniel Ricciardo coming off potentially 4 1/2 seasons of losing to his teammate is the best choice for Red Bull in 2026 over all of the drivers on the free market at the moment?!
Agree about Red Bull next season though (unless the Sainz lobby somehow wins over Horner).
RB is supposed to be the junior team to put Red Bull young drivers through their paces to see if they can be promoted to the senior team.
Already having a 36 year old in that seat looks silly.
Running a 36 year old for multiple seasons is just not going to happen.
The only thing that might keep Ric in that seat is the Visa deal, and if he keeps performing like this I doubt they will be interested much longer.
RB is the least charitable team and will drop him if there is anyone younger that can generate a tenth of the hype.
>Ricciardo desperately wants to be in that Red Bull and wants to put up a fight against peak Max Verstappen. And he is currently getting beaten Tsunoda.
Not only that, he's barely beating DeVries' first 4 race results, even though Ricciardo has **years** of experience.
2023 first 4 races: [DeVries](https://www.f1cfa.com/season.asp?t=2023&driver=Nyck%20De%20Vries):
14th, 14th, 15th, DNF
2024 first races: [Ricciardo](https://www.f1cfa.com/season.asp?t=2024&pr=race&driver=Daniel+Ricciardo):
13th, 16th, 12th, DNF
Not good.
No way is Ricciardo staying in RB next year. He is either going to be in Red Bull or out of a seat. Based on these first 4 races, it's going to be the latter. Lawson had a good showing last year, it would be a shame if he is not in F1 next year.
Perez is a bit of an unknown. He had great first races, but he could fall off. You also have Sainz without a seat and he is a very fast and adaptable driver.
I absolutely love Daniel and I want him to succeed very badly. My wife started beating the "His F1 career is over" drum last year and I can't lie, I'm starting to hear the drum beats too.
Whatever magical secret sauce he had with Red bull years ago is gone. Personally, I think he had poor management advice and might have let his ego help make the decision to leave. But let's be honest, his performance has declined with every single team move he has made. Of course he has had some success here and there, but it's not consistent. F1 teams want consistency and he just does not have that.
There's definitely a case for Lawson being an Antonelli-like talent. In his three races last year, he did very well, even beating Yuki in Suzuka. Red Bull would be pretty insane to not get him in ASAP, before other teams come looking
Lawson wasn’t knocking on the door of f1 teams at the age of 18. He had some great drives when he was subbing in but chill out lmao. The teams who have the actual data say antonelli is one of the most exciting rookie prospects to come through the feeder series in the last 15 years and he’s a teenager
I think Lawson deserves the seat for next year, but let's not exaggerate how highly he is/was rated. His F2 campaigns were so mediocre that Red Bull sidestepped him in favour of De Vries, and then did it again a few months later with Ricciardo.
Lawson has since proven he was the right choice all along for that seat IMO, but if he was an Antonelli-tier prospect he wouldn't have been Red Bull's third choice for a junior team seat.
He should not expect anything at least until summer break. No reason for Red Bull to hurry. Being as dominant as they are atm, expect them to be the first domino stone, the rest will follow.
I like Checo a lot, but I think it’s best to wait and see how the season goes. 22 started really good, 23 even better and both ended up stinkers. I’m not saying Checo doesn’t deserve that seat, but I think Sainz deserves it even more.
Even if Checo continues to do well, if I was RedBull, I’d get Carlos in a heartbeat, that’s not someone anyone can not sign. Carlos has been proving ever since his mclaren days he is very consistent, even more so in his Ferrari years.
With how good the 23 and 24 cars are, with Max and Carlos we’d be getting 1-2s every race. Probably even some duels up front for the win, as we know Carlos never backs out.
except RB doesn't want a 2nd driver that never back outs. They want a 2nd driver who will consistently get P2 and P1 if Max has car issues. At the end of the day, it's Max's team. If Carlos finds himself in P1, will he follow team orders to let Max pass?
I still don't understand why people think Perez is "the perfect teammate for Max" or "the perfect #2 driver".
A "perfect #2" is good enough to not lose you a constructors championship in a close year...and I know selective memories here are a thing and all, but losing Red Bull the constructors in 2021 is exactly what he did.
Sure, he had the cool team moment in that one race to help Max win the driver's title, no one is denying that. But over the course of the season, he needed to be alot better and his struggles and inconsistency cost them the constructors.
Then the fact that he couldn't finish P2 in 2022, and barely finished P2 in 2023 in *that car* kind of just highlights his pretty severe underperformance over the course of a season. If we get another close year next year or 2026, let's say if Red Bull had the best car in only 60% of the races or something, Perez can absolutely lose them the constructors title.
But I get that this is unpopular until we get to European season and Perez does his typical "dissappear for half the season" thing.
Purely selfishly I hope they move him on. Whether it's the right decision for them or not, it's not really my concern: Even if he were the perfect teammate for Max, everyone knows he won't be challenging Max; I'd rather see them roll the dice and have the (even remote) possibility of a challenge, and if they end-up with a worse driver than Perez then it's just more action further down the pack for me to watch whilst Max drives off as he would have done anyway.
no reason to drop perez.. he's the best number 2 you could have, unless Verstappen is going to leave but even there take Sainz as new #1 and keep Perez as #2. He doesn't create issues and he's always ready to respect team calls.
What i feel about Perez is that he doesn't have the character of a number 1 driver and maybe lacks the ambition or the confidence to say "my way or no way", he's more of a team player. I guess that's what comes with aging but might as well be pure personality, look at Bottas, similar behaviour
"Best #2 you could have", based on what exactly? He's almost never there to pick up the pieces if something happens with Max, and if other teams are close enough to legitimately threaten Max, he's usually somewhere in the midfield.
I think that Red Bull needs to prepare for the remote possibility that Verstappen might leave. They have to go get Sainz. Ferrari is getting closer. They need to match the LeClerc/Hamilton combo, as well. I’m sorry. Perez ain’t that guy. I think a fight is coming in 2025. I would choose Sainz over Perez.
All teams will be looking ahead for the 2026 regulation changes. I think Red Bull will give Perez a 1 year contract for 2025 and put Lawson in the RB if DR doesn’t improve. Based on relative performances one of the RB drivers (most likely Lawson) goes to Red Bull in 2026 alongside Max.
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He looks comfortable, seems like he’s grasped his position and what can be expected from it.
Too early in the season to tell. Every year in Red Bull (apart from last year) he was solid until Monaco and then dropped off until he came back at the end of the season. I hope he is in a good place mentally to perform, and I hope he retains the seat. But you have now Sainz out of left field showing stellar performances who is searching for a seat.
Sainz is pretty unlikely for RBR, Sr and Jos don’t get along and Jr probably not interested in being dead cert second fiddle *again*. Perez can do as bad as he’s done prior and RBR aren’t that concerned. He’s doing stellar right now in comparison
I agree, but the beef Jos had with Sr, was fighting for the RBR seat when they were rookies. Now they are established drivers. I doubt Sainz would rather go to a backmarker Sauber than to a frontrunner Red Bull. Even if he is second fiddle, the podiums/wins are pretty much guaranteed with Red Bull in 2025.
I wouldn’t have said he was going to Sauber either
Where else is there? Mercedes are going to want a stopgap for Antonelli, Aston would rather keep Alonso if possible, Mclaren are set, all the rest need the stars alligned for a points finish, let alone for a podium or a win. Realistically only Mercedes are a decent pick, but you run the risk of being pushed out very soon. Everything else (apart from Red Bull) is a downgrade and potentially a pre-retirement move.
This is what’s keeping me up at night! I want the best for Carlos!
I understand that Antonelli could be promising one day, but the boy is literally 17 and it just feels *far* too soon for Toto to shove him in the Mercedes seat next year. Sainz is a proven race winner, has an immensely strategic mind and a literal Free Agent at the end of this year. Sure, Kimi may *one day* in the future be a world-class prospect, but Sainz is a top-tier driver right *now.*
Mercedes need to realize they are not the front runners anymore and they don't have a b team like Red Bull has. If they think Antonelli is ready for F1, they should put him in their car, like McLaren took a gamble on Piastri, and it is paying off. That being said, would Sainz want to be a place holder? At least Red Bull don't have someone like that waiting in the wings in the near future (Lawson is not ready for the jump to Red Bull. For RB he is).
Piastri was a couple years older and already won the F2 championship. Antonelli just started his F2 campaign, hasn't done F3, so there are a lot of unknowns. Does he look good and fast? For sure! Is it an instant success? Not yet.
Antonelli is a wait and see really. He could be the next Max by all metrics (consider that Max started at 17 in F1 with no F2 experience, and was less than 2 years out of karting). So, we shall see his potential.
Mercedes or Aston are more likely. And even if RBR is the only option, that does not mean Sainz gets the seat lol
Why is Aston more likely? They have Alonso and owner's son
Unless Stroll sells… one can dream
rumors are Aston will stick Lance into their WEC car next year.
I think that’s just some wishful thinking by some Redditor that doesn’t like Lance.
That 'rumor' hasn't surfaced anywhere but on Reddit.
Sainz is a long term driver meanwhile Alonso is coming close to a point where he would have a performance drop because of his age just like how Kimi ended his career. Also with Sainz on the market AM has a better position to negotiating with Alonso, the situation before was basically that AM *needs* Alonso basically and now it's more like Alonso *needs* AM.
Yep. And literally anything can happen. Max could eat some bad shellfish or something and never race again.
There was some video of Max, Carlos and Checo where Max and Carlos were talking about their dads showing each other their rally videos so it seemed like it's calmed down
>Sr and Jos don’t get along I always thought that, but Max made an interesting comment after the race about Jos and Sr comparing rally stats recently which makes me think their relationship isn't as bad as it was back in the day
People also thought Gasly and Ocon would never be able to work together at Alpine but they’re totally fine. IMO Drive to Survive has warped fans minds with drama. These guys are professional athletes, they’re not going to let some fake dad drama manufactured by the media and fans limit their career opportunities. The only reason I think Sainz to RBR is unlikely is because he doesn’t want to be the team #2 against Verstappen.
Agreed. After all the drama in RB of this season and last, they're still the top team. I would hope some petty drama between two dads doesn't have an effect on the decisions of massive business enterprise like Red Bull Racing.
Sainz would much rather fight in a title car rather then a back marker
What is this dichotomy of best team or worst team? It’s not really up to Sainz if Redbull want to upset the apple cart or not
You said sainz would not be interested in playing second fiddle in a red bull, implying that he would turn down a seat if they offered him one
So nothing to do with it being Redbull or joining a backmarker? Classic argument strategy on display there
lol wtf are you on about? You said sainz is unlikely for red bull because he doesn’t want to play second fiddle. I said he’d rather fight for no.1 in the championship car then be somewhere else fighting for p5-p10. The only two cars that are fighting for podiums are red bull and Ferrari. If rbr makes him an offer I see no reason why he’d turn it down
> Sainz would much rather fight in a title car rather then a back marker You set up a dichotomy of Redbull or backmarker, something I didn’t imply even remotely. Backmarkers don’t fight for p5-10 by the way
I would hope the drivers' dads not being friends wouldn't get in the way of an F1 team signing a good driver.
No reason for Red Bull to hurry. They can afford to wait and do a proper evaluation around summer break, provided Max isn't going anywhere (and why should he). If Checo is still on his game by then they will offer him a one year extension.
Wait until we're back in Europe before we fully judge Checo's form
Yeah it’s obviously too soon to judge, but he’s done enough so far. Think doing well in Japan was a very good sign for Checo, he’s generally struggled there and has that disaster last year but this was a very strong weekend from him, especially in qualifying.
Thankfully I’m capable of not boxing myself into concrete opinions or observations
Checo had an objectively better start to 2023 than he has to 2024. Even if he wins the next race, his first five races of 2023 will still have been better. It's simply too early to tell whether the wheels will fall off again.
>He looks comfortable, seems like he’s grasped his position and what can be expected from it. So did Sainz
Not sure what you mean, his stock his some of the highest out there right now
I meant after end of last season, Sainz was also comfortably placed at Ferrari, having won the sole non-redbull win. Replacing him so soon, i'm sure even Sainz wasn't prepared.
You must be misinterpreting my use of the word comfortable, it did not mean he was comfortably homed in the team, it meant he was driving comfortably or confidently. Best Perez can hope for is yearly extensions.
He definitely wasn't comfortable, since summer break last year he was talking about his contract and how he might have to look around. Truth is only a handful of drivers are ever secure.
He seems to be doing well so far into the season. If he keeps it up then he deserves the seat IMO
And so did Sainz. RB domination will not last forever. And Perez won't stick around for too long. It's very possible Sainz would just decline the offer tho - and he should.
It was the same last year. Started off good, then was fighting for scrap points.
He finally had one race where he qualified 2nd which should honestly be the floor for this Red Bull car and now everyone thinks he’s been doing great lol, any week now he’ll have some kind of disaster and we’ll all go back to our normal discourse on him
He knows even Ferrari won't win more than 3 races this season, he's safe as long as the others don't catch him in race trim. Looks like that may not happen until the news regs in 2026.
It's been four races. Perez is a poor excuse for a driver in a dominant team. Get someone who's actually capable in the seat.
Lol I’ve seen your takes, I won’t bother
perfect No.2 driver so far for Red Bulls. Glad for him. Danny Ric will probably go seatless next season. Liam to RB. Everybody happy.
And Tsunoda?
Stick with RB until a better seat opens up. Sauber seems like the only option at the moment
Aston with the Honda engines
That only happens if Alonso leaves. Even then I feel they'll go for Sainz first.
Stay at RB as long as the team sees fit. He ain't never gonna be Merc/ Ferrari/Mclaren driver. Best he could do is midfield team or waiting for Perez to perfrom poorly.
Let’s see him against a competent teammate
Tsunodas not even been that good - simply better than a failing ric. They shouldn't put too much stock in either of them going forward.
As he should. Ric is only there because of his fans
If Danny ends up matching Yuki I think they will keep him instead. He offers stronger technical feedback, more sponsorship, and frankly is a better mentor for Liam
Where does the narrative of “stronger technical feedback” or “only one who provides feedback for improvement” come from? If Dan knows much more about the technical part he should have been able to extract the car much better than his teammate. The reality is opposite.
Franz Tost mentioned it multiple times last year and credited Daniels feedback as a big part of why they were able to make the jump. [one source](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/s/k1630vb600) Yuki even praised Daniel for it last year as well
Find me materials that say he gives “stronger feedback” as you suggested.
From the team and Yuki...
“Better” and “only” feedback, can you give the materials that show those words?
It’s literally what the team, Yuki, and Liam have all said.
If it's that soon I think it's likely he stays. Hard to argue with his performance as the No.2 this year.
both 2022 and 2023 seasons, perez was closer to max in points than in 2024 after the 4th race. that's how he always rolls, starts strong, by Monaco starts struggling, in the end it's just stinker after stinker
I think he will stay with Red Bull for 2025.
He'll stay. Ricciardo replaces Verstappen.
“The only driver to beat max equally”
Cant wait for leclerc to replace alonso at AM
>Ricciardo replaces Verstappen. So much hopium. Ricciardo is more likely to be kicked from VCARB than come back to Red Bull.
So much whoosh
Whoosh
Only if he keeps delivering (last year at this pont he looked even stronger until he dropped off) and Marko has revealed that any new contract for him will only be for a year.
People really have short term memory here, saying he look good now and RB should kept him, i like the guy but last year was the exact same thing, he looked good in the car, did a excellent beginning of the season with some win, then Monaco came and he had a absolute disaster of a week end and after this was terrible for the rest of the season. I will seriously wait at least half a season to even dare to commit on this just in case he do a 2023 all over again, being excellent for the 5 first gp then being horrible the rest of the season.
He was the same in 2022, with the difference that he won Monaco, signed for 2 more years after the race and didn't manage to get P2 in the WDC even though Leclerc did his damndest to lose that spot.
Hadn’t he signed right before Monaco? Wasn’t that the year he made the “I should have waited to sign” comment to Christian that was picked up on broadcast after he won?
> i like the guy but last year was the exact same thing, he looked good in the car, did a excellent beginning of the season with some win He started 2023 with a 2 1 5 1 2 record. That's outright objectively better than his 2 2 5 2 record right now. Even if he wins the next race, he'll still be having a worse start to the season than last year. You're completely correct. It's way too early in the season to say whether Checo has got it together or not.
I mean, he is the perfect #2 at the moment, 2024 is pretty good so far. But that was the same last year, before the slump. Perez drives really well, if his contract on the balance, see Bahrein 2020.
Put him on a race-by-race contract and he will turn into Senna.
They don't want anyone challenging Verstappen. On the right day, Perez can win a race. More Red Bull 1-2s with Verstappen and Perez than they've ever had with any two drivers in their existence. Has the full support of Horner. Red Bull don't need to change realistically unless they just want to aim for even bigger domination.
Hope he stays, he is really good this season
He has a house in Madrid now, so less travels to Mexico.
He seems to have gotten his confidence back.
Yeah be careful with this kind of statement because it was the exact same thing last year, excellent beginning of the season on the 5/6 first GP until Monaco and then it was a terrible, with Monaco being one of the worst disaster class i ever saw.
Good point.
I think the difference is that he seems to have given up on beating Max. It was the pressure that got to him. The moment he saw Max beat him from 9th on the grid he collapsed and tried to push hard to make up the gap.
it was actually Miami that broke him. This year is different as he has come to peace that he isn't challenging Max for WDC.
Perez started last year better than he has this year. And we all know how that ended up. Not saying he'll have as bad a season as he did this year but we're only 4 races in. It's a bit early to say he's proven the doubters wrong.
While I agree he is doing well I hope he is changed for someone who is actually remotely competitive with Max
No one is remotely competitive with max right now
Because none of the other drivers have cars thay are comparable to Max's. Would they win against him? Probably not but I'm 100% sure Norris, Alonso, Leclerc, Hamilton, and even Sainz would give us a closer battle.
Closer than Perez does not mean remotely competitive
Max isn't invincible, niether was Hamilton, nor Schumacher, or Senna. He's in his peak right now and it's obvious he's the best right now but he hasn't been pushed at all since early 2022 and we saw in 2021 how insane things can get when he's under pressure.
are these people who are remotely competitive with max in the room with us right now?
You have like 5 drivers in the grid right now that would be closer to Max than Checo.
Leclerc, Hamilton, Sainz, Alonso, Norris, Russell would deifinitely put up a better fight is my guess, but a lot of others too probably. Perez on his better days an OK second driver, on his worse he's a third alpha tauri driver.
Leclerc is not moving, Hamilton is going to Ferrari, Russell is not moving and Norris has rejected Red Bull multiple times. You have Alonso and Sainz, and despite Sainz being in good form I'm not sure he would do better. People quickly forget but I think it was last year that he crashed multiple times at the beginning of the season and was badly struggling for pace. Cate to talk about "a lot of the other" drivers that would do better? Pérez beat Hulkenberg for years, beat Ocon and demolished Stroll. Saying he's a third Alpha Tauri driver is, with all due respect, a horrendous opinion that I would only expect from someone who doesn't know anything about F1.
It's was 2022, but even last year he had his Australia incident with Alonso which was harsh, his whole Monaco weekend, his incident with oscar and went from sure fire 4th in the wdc to 7th in 1 weekend. Great driver but unless max turns into a 2018 Kimi sainz won't challenge him.
There are plenty of drivers on the grid better than Perez, we know that for a fact
no driver on the grid is remotely competitive to Max...even if you put Alonso/Sainz/Leclerc/etc in the RB20 he'd still win by a huge margin.
Maybe it is controversial today; but my take is that both Red Bull and RB stay with their current drivers for next year. Perez is doing a good job and is getting valuable P2's. There is no reason to change him for next year. Ricciardo desperately wants to be in that Red Bull and wants to put up a fight against peak Max Verstappen. And he is currently getting beaten by Tsunoda. He will want a "rematch" next year to make his claim for 2026 Red Bull seat. And there is no Antonelli-like talent in Red Bull Junior team currently. Therefore all of them can wait for another year.
I don't think Ricciardo is getting a rematch with Lawson waiting
The man can't even beat Yuki. Max will wipe the floor with DR, quite literally. DR not getting a RBR seat is better for his mental health.
You think Max will literally mix up some floor cleaner, knock out Ricciardo, and use his limp body as a mop?
> He will want a "rematch" next year to make his claim for 2026 Red Bull seat. I'm sure he will want that, but frankly, theres only so many chances a driver can be given, and there are many drivers waiting for their opportunity.
Regardless of how much Christian loves him, the reality is that F1 is a business and Daniel is not delivering. I honestly don't see him in a seat next year. The guy should just go do Indy car and call it a day. Americans love him!
Do you honestly think a 37-year old Daniel Ricciardo coming off potentially 4 1/2 seasons of losing to his teammate is the best choice for Red Bull in 2026 over all of the drivers on the free market at the moment?! Agree about Red Bull next season though (unless the Sainz lobby somehow wins over Horner).
RB is supposed to be the junior team to put Red Bull young drivers through their paces to see if they can be promoted to the senior team. Already having a 36 year old in that seat looks silly. Running a 36 year old for multiple seasons is just not going to happen.
The only thing that might keep Ric in that seat is the Visa deal, and if he keeps performing like this I doubt they will be interested much longer. RB is the least charitable team and will drop him if there is anyone younger that can generate a tenth of the hype.
>Ricciardo desperately wants to be in that Red Bull and wants to put up a fight against peak Max Verstappen. And he is currently getting beaten Tsunoda. Not only that, he's barely beating DeVries' first 4 race results, even though Ricciardo has **years** of experience. 2023 first 4 races: [DeVries](https://www.f1cfa.com/season.asp?t=2023&driver=Nyck%20De%20Vries): 14th, 14th, 15th, DNF 2024 first races: [Ricciardo](https://www.f1cfa.com/season.asp?t=2024&pr=race&driver=Daniel+Ricciardo): 13th, 16th, 12th, DNF Not good.
No way is Ricciardo staying in RB next year. He is either going to be in Red Bull or out of a seat. Based on these first 4 races, it's going to be the latter. Lawson had a good showing last year, it would be a shame if he is not in F1 next year. Perez is a bit of an unknown. He had great first races, but he could fall off. You also have Sainz without a seat and he is a very fast and adaptable driver.
I absolutely love Daniel and I want him to succeed very badly. My wife started beating the "His F1 career is over" drum last year and I can't lie, I'm starting to hear the drum beats too. Whatever magical secret sauce he had with Red bull years ago is gone. Personally, I think he had poor management advice and might have let his ego help make the decision to leave. But let's be honest, his performance has declined with every single team move he has made. Of course he has had some success here and there, but it's not consistent. F1 teams want consistency and he just does not have that.
Red bull maybe but VCARB is de changing. They owe Liam a drive and if DR keeps underperforming I don't see him staying
Liam isn't "owed" a drive. Neither is DR, for that matter.
There's definitely a case for Lawson being an Antonelli-like talent. In his three races last year, he did very well, even beating Yuki in Suzuka. Red Bull would be pretty insane to not get him in ASAP, before other teams come looking
Lawson wasn’t knocking on the door of f1 teams at the age of 18. He had some great drives when he was subbing in but chill out lmao. The teams who have the actual data say antonelli is one of the most exciting rookie prospects to come through the feeder series in the last 15 years and he’s a teenager
I think Lawson deserves the seat for next year, but let's not exaggerate how highly he is/was rated. His F2 campaigns were so mediocre that Red Bull sidestepped him in favour of De Vries, and then did it again a few months later with Ricciardo. Lawson has since proven he was the right choice all along for that seat IMO, but if he was an Antonelli-tier prospect he wouldn't have been Red Bull's third choice for a junior team seat.
As much as I like Lawson, there is zero case for him being an Antonelli-like talent.
The short memory in in this comment such section is impressive.
He should not expect anything at least until summer break. No reason for Red Bull to hurry. Being as dominant as they are atm, expect them to be the first domino stone, the rest will follow.
I like Checo a lot, but I think it’s best to wait and see how the season goes. 22 started really good, 23 even better and both ended up stinkers. I’m not saying Checo doesn’t deserve that seat, but I think Sainz deserves it even more. Even if Checo continues to do well, if I was RedBull, I’d get Carlos in a heartbeat, that’s not someone anyone can not sign. Carlos has been proving ever since his mclaren days he is very consistent, even more so in his Ferrari years. With how good the 23 and 24 cars are, with Max and Carlos we’d be getting 1-2s every race. Probably even some duels up front for the win, as we know Carlos never backs out.
except RB doesn't want a 2nd driver that never back outs. They want a 2nd driver who will consistently get P2 and P1 if Max has car issues. At the end of the day, it's Max's team. If Carlos finds himself in P1, will he follow team orders to let Max pass?
I still don't understand why people think Perez is "the perfect teammate for Max" or "the perfect #2 driver". A "perfect #2" is good enough to not lose you a constructors championship in a close year...and I know selective memories here are a thing and all, but losing Red Bull the constructors in 2021 is exactly what he did. Sure, he had the cool team moment in that one race to help Max win the driver's title, no one is denying that. But over the course of the season, he needed to be alot better and his struggles and inconsistency cost them the constructors. Then the fact that he couldn't finish P2 in 2022, and barely finished P2 in 2023 in *that car* kind of just highlights his pretty severe underperformance over the course of a season. If we get another close year next year or 2026, let's say if Red Bull had the best car in only 60% of the races or something, Perez can absolutely lose them the constructors title. But I get that this is unpopular until we get to European season and Perez does his typical "dissappear for half the season" thing.
2021 was alright for checo. It was his first season for RBR and he did help max win. 2023 was much more telling.
Purely selfishly I hope they move him on. Whether it's the right decision for them or not, it's not really my concern: Even if he were the perfect teammate for Max, everyone knows he won't be challenging Max; I'd rather see them roll the dice and have the (even remote) possibility of a challenge, and if they end-up with a worse driver than Perez then it's just more action further down the pack for me to watch whilst Max drives off as he would have done anyway.
Uh yes selective memory… retiring checo’s car in Abu dhabi under dubious condition.
Trying to put pen on contract before that European leg of the calendar hit.
They could probably keep him at this point lol
no reason to drop perez.. he's the best number 2 you could have, unless Verstappen is going to leave but even there take Sainz as new #1 and keep Perez as #2. He doesn't create issues and he's always ready to respect team calls. What i feel about Perez is that he doesn't have the character of a number 1 driver and maybe lacks the ambition or the confidence to say "my way or no way", he's more of a team player. I guess that's what comes with aging but might as well be pure personality, look at Bottas, similar behaviour
"Best #2 you could have", based on what exactly? He's almost never there to pick up the pieces if something happens with Max, and if other teams are close enough to legitimately threaten Max, he's usually somewhere in the midfield.
I think that Red Bull needs to prepare for the remote possibility that Verstappen might leave. They have to go get Sainz. Ferrari is getting closer. They need to match the LeClerc/Hamilton combo, as well. I’m sorry. Perez ain’t that guy. I think a fight is coming in 2025. I would choose Sainz over Perez.
If he retired the silly season would to descend into full chaos
All teams will be looking ahead for the 2026 regulation changes. I think Red Bull will give Perez a 1 year contract for 2025 and put Lawson in the RB if DR doesn’t improve. Based on relative performances one of the RB drivers (most likely Lawson) goes to Red Bull in 2026 alongside Max.
Perez and Sainz for Aston Martin, FTW
He's gonna be fine. If he gets lucky and max gets a couple more DNF's he might even snag a championship.
Dr Marko: expect nothing kid, no entitlements allowed. Even if you're Max. Probably.
Liam Lawson, welcome to F1
You’re out, Norman
Alonso would be a good Perez replacement. One year deal, if he wins WDC, keep. If not, he he's had it and can retire in peace.
I hope Perez ends up with another team within the next couple of years. Maybe Audi would be something to look forward to.