Will you keep Checo Pérez’s seat at Red Bull?

The end of the season Formula 1 is just around the corner and there are still more unknowns than certainties. Especially for Franco Colapintowhich in less than a week would be left without a seat for next year. Despite the endless rumors that have been circulating since his arrival at Great Circus It left the paddock upside down, everything remains the same.

Of course, some things can change. Among them, the seat of Czech Perez in Red Bullin serious risk after the closing of the season in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The performance of the Mexican driver in the second half of the year seems to be the only confirmation that the European media needs to replace him with Liam Lawsonthe new promise of the Austrian team.

While Franco Colapinto was believed to be the leading candidate to replace Checo, the bad fortune that dogged the Argentine in the last three races saw him drop down the priority list. As the team’s advisor, Helmut Marko, assured, “he is not very high on the list.”

This decline for Colapinto directly benefited Lawson, who officially became a Red Bull driver by replacing Daniel Ricciardo at VCarb in the last eight races of the year. The 22-year-old New Zealander showed from the first minute in F1 that He did not come “to make friends, but to win” as he declared before the press.

Lawson earned a reputation in the paddock after several on-track encounters with experienced drivers such as Fernando Alonso and Checo Pérez. For Red Bull, these somewhat aggressive attitudes demonstrate commitment on the part of the New Zealander, which makes him the favorite to be promoted to the main team over his teammate. Yuki Tsunoda.

This raised some alarms among the followers of the Austrian team, who consider the choice of Lawson over Tsunoda unfair, who was criticized for several years for the same attitudes that today make the New Zealander the favorite. But the Japanese is willing to fight until the last second to claim his seat at Red Bull. “I’m going to continue destroying them,” Tsunoda assured of his companions.

“If I knew what to do to get up to Red Bull, I would do it right after finishing this interview. We know that these are things that I do not control, the only thing I can control is my performance, as I have shown so far this year. “I trust in myself and I have shown that my results are as consistent as possible,” said the Japanese driver, and this is exactly what they are looking for at Red Bull: consistency, results, and a considerable distance from Max Verstappen to assist him.

Once Lawson’s move to Red Bull is finalized, the seat he would leave free could continue to be an option for Colapinto. However, Marko stressed that the priority lies with his own junior drivers such as Isack Hadjarwho will compete for the title of Formula 2 world champion against Gabriel Bortoleto this weekend.

In fact, Hadjar will have to do a free practice with Max Verstappen’s car in Abu Dhabi for Red Bull to complete the mandatory junior tests of the season. If he becomes champion, Red Bull will have no choice but to promote him to Formula 1 in VCarb.