"Silly Season" got an early start this year as the 2024 F1 season revved up early with the announcement of 7-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton deciding to depart from Mercedes and sign with his childhood dream team Ferrari.
As we progressed through the season so far, a new premier name in next year's driver market elevated his value even further early this season. That driver is Ferrari's Spanish driver Carlos Sainz. As the other Spanish driver, 2-time World Champ Fernando Alonso, would've paired well with his fellow countryman in the 2025 F1 driver market; but instead Alonso just recently inked a new multi-year deal with Aston Martin well before we could even attempt to predict his next location.
It does seem taboo that Max Verstappen will even think about departing from Red Bull Racing, but recent scandals and new regulations coming in 2026 might see the Flying Dutchman leave his current championship team.
Another driver who is now creating a name for himself and is fresh off a points finish in his home Grand Prix is Yuki Tsunoda. These three drivers could very well be involved in a new driver lineup for Red Bull come the 2025 F1 season.
Let's dive bomb into this upcoming driver market with some extremely bold driver/constructor mixups that see Red Bull Racing with a totally new look on the grid.
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Carlos Sainz Could Be Red Bull's New #1 Driver
Firstly, we'll begin with Carlos Sainz, and this is where we think he most deservedly belongs. As he is already in talks with many teams, one team stands out amongst the rest, that being Red Bull.
Sainz is putting together a masterclass of an F1 season, even almost outperforming his stellar Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc on one less race.
The admiration for Carlos Sainz really took a huge leap when he returned rather early to the grid after appendix surgery. Not only did he return to the F1 grid, but he won the Australian Grand Prix leading the Ferrari 1-2 result for that weekend.
Carlos Sainz deserves to be in a winning car and at this point in his career, he has definitely earned the right to be treated as a #1 driver. This may cause some confusion as to how he could be the #1 driver at Red Bull, but listen in to our ambitious thoughts to where Max Verstappen could end up this offseason.
Max Vertappen Moving on From Red Bull
Yes, we don't believe it but we'll try to conceptualize it. Max Vertappen to Mercedes in 2025 is a possibility. Although there isn't much to go off of here other than speculation, we do feel like it could happen given the current F1 driver climate.
The 2025 F1 season should see a huge overhaul in young talent and the movement of proven veterans. Yuki Tsunoda being one of Red Bull sister team VCARB's drivers has been waiting in the wings for that Red Bull seat. When we get into Tsunoda's possible future we'll touch more on what the 2025 Red Bull driver lineup could look like if Max Vertappen and Sergio Perez move on to different constructors for the following season.
If Red Bull do decide to let Verstappen walk, or if Verstappen wishes to depart, Max could see himself driving for the Silver Arrows. Now, this may clash with some thoughts but there is really only one problem Verstappen will face if he joins Mercedes.
The issue would be who Mercedes will claim as their #1 driver, George Russell or Max Verstappen. It seems pretty obvious who it could be, but there could be some trouble for Verstappen when switching to a new team with a car more or less designed for their current driver's, Russell, preferences.
We all know Mercedes team principle Toto Wolff admires Verstappen, so the issue would only come in managing the two similarly minded drivers of Max and George. Both driving with an aggressive style may see more accidents while driving the same car, as they have already had their disputes while in vastly different cars.
RELATED ARTICLE: VCARB Could Lose Yuki Tsunoda to Red Bull or Another F1 Seat
Yuki Tsunoda Moves His Way Up to Red Bull
Now for the final piece of a wild driver market mixup for Red Bull would be Visa Cash App RB F1 team's Yuki Tsunoda. If they could get away with that kind of team name, we could get away with an outlandish driver market prediction.
If Verstappen and Perez move on from Red Bull and Carlos Sainz signs with the Austrian team, it would be ideal for Red Bull to promote Tsunoda from within based on his strong performance so far this season.
It just makes too much sense to pass up this idea. Yuki may not be ready to be deemed a #1 driver just yet, but Sainz definitely is. In the time it would take for Tsunoda to acclimate to a competitive car, Red Bull could have Carlos Sainz leading the way pulling in consistent points.
This would be a low risk, high reward driver change for Red Bull if Max Verstappen were to leave heading into 2025. But we still have the 2024 F1 season to go through and anything could happen; as Verstappen is comfortably leading the championship and Perez has not made any crucial mistakes so far.
The Red Bull 2025 lineup could very well stay the same as this year's, but one can dream.
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