Ranked: Who is most likely to be Max Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate in F1 2025?

With Red Bull making noises that changes may be coming for F1 2025, here are our thoughts on who might partner Max Verstappen next season.

Sergio Perez appears in genuine danger of losing his seat for next season, given his disappointing year in 2024, and Red Bull isn’t short on options for the seat alongside Max Verstappen – should Christian Horner make the choice of dropping him in favour of a fresh face.

Who are Red Bull’s leading options for F1 2025?

5. Valtteri Bottas

Carlos Sainz was a shout for a good outside bet, briefly, as speculation emerged that the Spaniard – who is believed to have a clause in his contract allowing him to leave for a leading team should he get an offer – might be a target for Red Bull as Williams mull over what to do with Franco Colapinto.

But Horner shut down the Sainz speculation earlier this week in an interview with talkSPORT and, as a result, it’s Valtteri Bottas who is our choice for the leading outside bet.

Bottas is now a free agent for F1 2025, with Sauber electing against continuing with either of its incumbent drivers as Gabriel Bartoleto will partner Nico Hulkenberg next season.

All the signs are now that Bottas is set to return to Mercedes in a reserve driver capacity role – the Finn having been highly regarded at Brackley during his previous tenure between 2017 and ’21.

But, if there’s any chance of signing Bottas at all, Red Bull could do far worse. While an unexciting choice, given Bottas isn’t likely to ever challenge Verstappen in any meaningful way, the experienced veteran of F1 has shown remarkable consistency in his role as a support driver in the past.

When Mercedes had the best car in F1, it was Lewis Hamilton who would reap the biggest rewards, but Bottas was very capable of seeing off any challengers – the HAM BOT VER leading trio becoming incredibly common between 2017 and ’21. He also managed a run of 103 appearances in Q3 which ended in 2022, showing just how dependable he was on a Saturday.

The Sauber this season has not been a competitive car and, with Bottas never being the type of driver to outperform his car in the way Verstappen or Hamilton have shown they can, points have eluded the honorary Australian in 2024.

But, if Red Bull delivers a winning car again in 2025, Bottas would be an ideal signing to back up Verstappen – personable, affable, hard-working, compliant, and consistent in performing at the level the car is capable of.

4. Kevin Magnussen

I’ve long argued for the return of Daniel Ricciardo to Red Bull for the final races of 2024 in a bid to rescue the Constructors’ Championship, which I believe the Australian would be capable of contributing towards. But Ricciardo, ousted as he is from VCARB in favour of Liam Lawson, can’t be realistically considered for a full-time seat with the main team any longer – that particular fairytale has come to an end.

But another veteran whose career is in danger of stuttering out (again) is Kevin Magnussen, and Red Bull should give some serious thought to signing him. The Danish driver is free and easy on the driver market, and Magnussen has shown he will take his team duties extremely seriously during a season.

On many occasions this season, with Nico Hulkenberg up ahead in the points, Magnussen has set about becoming a mobile chicane and delaying rivals to ensure Haas scores points. It hasn’t always been pretty, and it’s led to Magnussen picking up a race ban by way of too many penalty points, but it’s indicative of Magnussen’s loyalty to his team.

The US Grand Prix proved Magnussen has still got plenty of race pace himself when the car is under him. Unlikely to challenge Verstappen over a race, given how Hulkenberg has usually had the edge, Magnussen would nonetheless be plenty quick and experienced – fully capable of delivering consistent points and podiums, and perhaps there to pick up the pieces for Verstappen.

One thing Red Bull would be assured of is that, if Verstappen needs his teammate to hold someone back, Magnussen will do everything within his power to achieve this goal and his Viking spirit would likely make him a more attractive prospect if Red Bull was shorter on options.

3. Sergio Perez

Given that Sergio Perez remains a well-liked and popular member of the team, and enjoys strong commercial backing, his existing two-year contract means it won’t be a shock if he’s still behind the wheel of the Red Bull when 2025 begins.

There’s no doubt that Perez has cost Red Bull dearly in this year’s championship, with his tail-off in form even more dramatic than his already unsteady 2023.

But, as a complete package, Perez has shown in the past that he’s quite capable of ticking the boxes for Red Bull, albeit far more rarely than he should be.

2024, in isolation, wouldn’t be sufficient reason to take the chance on replacing Perez for next season but, at this point, it’s clear that the Red Bull/Perez combination is one that has never fully gelled – the Mexican simply can’t pull a fully consistent season together in the same fashion that, say, Bottas managed so capably at Mercedes.

His performances are such that, at this point, there is little risk for Red Bull to replace him – it simply can’t get any worse. Hanging onto him in the hopes he will deliver something akin to the start of 2024 once again is simply unnecessary now, and his likeability, positive work ethic, and affable persona don’t outweigh that.

More on Red Bull in F1

👉 Inside Red Bull: Christian Horner and the other major players in Red Bull’s hierarchy

👉 What happened next? The nine Red Bull drivers who didn’t land the top seat

2. Franco Colapinto

Seemingly out of nowhere, the Ayrton Senna-doppelganger Franco Colapinto has arrived in F1 and created a storm as he’s matched and beaten the highly-rated Alex Albon in their handful of races together.

His performances have left the teams agog and, at this point, Carlos Sainz must be very relieved he signed with Williams in the late summer – his bargaining power in the driver market would have been compromised quite a bit at this point had he not.

It’s led to several teams trying to secure his services in some shape or form, with Williams open to playing ball on that front provided the right terms are agreed upon. Red Bull has been open about pursuing Colapinto to see where he can slot in, while PlanetF1.com understands a second team is also hunting for the Argentinean’s signature – speculation elsewhere has linked Alpine with the bargaining.

The big question mark over Colapinto is where exactly he fits into the Red Bull picture. Joining the roster of drivers immediately alongside Verstappen is risky – after all, a handful of strong weekends does not necessarily suggest a superior talent to other, more known, quantities.

However, it’s worth remembering that Red Bull does have ample knowledge of Albon’s talents and where he rates in the pecking order. Red Bull was willing to bat for Albon on the driver market to secure him a place, but that place was not on a Red Bull team. Pursuing Colapinto, to the point of spending many millions of dollars as has been rumoured, suggests Horner and Marko, et al., see something special in his capabilities.

There’s also the huge South American interest in Colapinto to bolster his case, with prominent sponsors like Carlos Slim suggesting interest in weighing in behind him – a key factor in Perez’s attractiveness to Red Bull.

Given the commercial aspects of Colapinto’s signing, the question mark over whether he can perform in the same fashion in a much more high-pressure environment where the expectations are of consistent brilliance rather than merely proving oneself worthy of the F1 grid becomes much smaller.

But while Colapinto has shown remarkably favourably and can boast of this sponsorship attractiveness, he still remains less likely than our number one pick.

1. Liam Lawson

Given that he’s already part of the Red Bull family, is a ‘free agent’ in that Red Bull can do whatever it pleases with the Kiwi, and is showing signs of a strong self-belief – critical for success at any team but imperative for Red Bull – Lawson is the prime contender to slot in alongside Max Verstappen.

Like Colapinto, Lawson’s brief time in F1 has shown he has the speed and mettle to make it – where the pair lack is in the aspect of being ‘tried-and-tested’ over longer periods of time. In the face of being beaten weekend in, weekend out, as they presumably would be by Verstappen in 2025, how would they cope with this mental aspect, while being expected to slot in close behind to help win the Constructors’ Championship?

Given that he will only have done 11 races by the time he finishes this season, Lawson is very much still a rookie driver and, as such, would be facing a similar baptism of fire to the likes of Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon half a decade ago – baptisms that neither of the aforementioned handled very well.

But Lawson hasn’t been fast-tracked in quite the same way – he’s had time to mentally prepare for F1 over the past year, aware of what may lie in his future and what the end target is – that mental preparation could prove hugely beneficial. There’s also the fact that Red Bull seems to have learned from its mistakes with Albon and Gasly, as evidenced by its excessive patience with Perez.

In his three races so far, Lawson has managed to annoy leading names such as Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez – to the point where a stressed Perez responded with more anger than he might have if Lawson was a more ‘neutral’ driver – always a sign that a driver is doing something noteworthy.

If there’s one thing Red Bull hates in its drivers, it is complete anonymity. Lawson has shown he is far from anonymous and, with three races to go, simply has to compare favourably to Yuki Tsunoda to remain in the driving seat to join Verstappen.

“I think that’s very far ahead, honestly,” Lawson said upon his promotion to VCARB last month, when asked about the prospect of the Red Bull seat.

“The target, or the goal that’s been set out, is the same as it’s always been since I was 17 and joined the programme.

“It’s all performance-based and that’s basically how they’ll be looking at it. Obviously, Yuki’s done a very good job the last couple of years and especially this year and he’s the benchmark for them to compare me against. He’s the only one in the same car as me. So I’ll be directly compared with him.

“And I guess the goal or the expectation from them is for me to compete alongside him. So in terms of where that sets me out for next year or in the future, I have absolutely no idea. But that’s the target that’s been set out.

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