Helmut Marko suggests Red Bull will focus on its junior drivers, despite George Russell’s Mercedes contract ending in a year’s time.
Red Bull Advisor Helmut Marko emphasises the Austrian team will favour giving its junior drivers a chance, rather than signing big names in Formula 1.
The Milton Keynes-based outfit signed Sergio Perez instead of one of their junior drivers, replacing Alex Albon. However, the move has never come into fruition with the Mexican struggling compared to Max Verstappen.
Despite being under contract until the end of 2026, Perez is on thin ice as Red Bull are actively searching for the best driver to partner Verstappen.
Perez has been on a poor run of form, scoring only 41 points in the last 12 races. The Mexican has been outscored by 151 points by Verstappen in the same amount of races. Perez’s lack of contribution has hurt the Austrian team’s chances of winnign the constructors’ championship, falling behind McLaren now.
Is Russell an option?
Signing multiple race winner George Russell is a possibility for the start of the new regulations in 2026. The Briton’s contract with Mercedes ends at the end of the 2025 season.
Marko is full of praise for Russell as a driver. However, the 81-year-old admitted that he is not likely to join the Austrian team.
“George Russell is on a par with [Lewis] Hamilton in qualifying, if not faster,” Marko said to Formel1.de. “But Russell is Mercedes-Benz-affiliated, and now we are focusing on our juniors.
“We see this with [Franco] Colapinto, for example, he was relatively inexperienced and not very successful in the junior series, although it has to be said that he never had the best teams, but what an incredible performance he is putting in now.
“And now let’s see what our juniors or even a Yuki TsunodaÂ?can do. He can also be described as a junior. But as I mentioned earlier, how does he compare to a Lawson?”
Big chance for Lawson
Liam Lawson is back on the Formula 1 grid as a full-time driver. The Kiwi driver is replacing Daniel Ricciardo for the final six rounds of the 2024 season.
Lawson will go head-to-head with Tsunoda, who has improved to retain his RB seat. However, Red Bull aren’t yet convinced of promoting the Japanese driver to a Red Bull seat.
Plenty of other rookie drivers this season have made their mark in the sport. Oliver Bearman has scored points for both Ferrari and Haas, securing a Haas seat for 2025. Meanwhile, Franco Colapinto has seriously impressed for Williams, scoring points in Baku after an inmpressive eighth place finish.
“[Colapinto] is definitely someone for the future,” the Austrian said. “What he showed in Baku and in Singapore was very, very good. But I gave that as an example.
“You could also mention Bearman, who shows that juniors from Formula 2 have the potential to impress in Formula 1. Therefore, contrary to the past, as a top team you don’t necessarily need drivers that already have three or five years’ worth of experience.”
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