F1 Today | Red Bull back to old ways, Tsunoda's reaction, Bottas returns

Red Bull back to old ways

One of the most important aspects of Red Bull's approach to F1 was their junior talent development program which it had been forced to put on the backburner with Daniel Ricciardo's unexpected exit after the 2018 F1 season, and with Pierre Gasly's and Alex Albon's inability to fill in the Australian's big shoes at the Austrian team. It was then they resorted to looking elsewhere, outside of their own talent pool, to find Max Verstappen a fitting teammate.

Although a solid F1 driver up until 2020, Sergio Perez proved to be in deep waters since his first season next to the Dutchman in 2021, resulting in a large gap in points and pace at the end of their first year together, which only got bigger as they years piled on, with his form deteriorating alarmingly this year. So, Red Bull Racing has decided to dive back into their talent pool and have confirmed Liam Lawson as its second driver, next to world Champion Verstappen, something Lawson described as a lifelong dream, and team boss, Christian Horner claimed to be delighted about. In Racing Bulls, GPblog has learned that Isack Hadjar will be lining up next to Yuki Tsunoda for next season.

Tsunoda reacts to being passed up for Red Bull promotion

As expected, Red Bull have gone for Lawson instead of Tsunoda, pinning the decision to the New Zealander's ability to be pretty much on the pace with the Japanese from the word go. This, paired with Lawson's mental fortitude and attitude toward racing, made him a prime candidate for the Red Bull seat, although the Austrian team's chief advisor, Helmut Marko, also commented that the decision between the two was very close, he also stated that Tsunoda while dissapointed, reacted relatively calm.

Another former Red Bull driver, Carlos Sainz, was also overlooked earlier in the season, when the Spaniard was still a free agent, before he committed to Williams Racing halfway through the 2024 campaign. Red Bull team boss, Horner, commented on the decision of the Austrian outfit to not consider Sainz at that stage, and rather going for the risky renewal of Sergio Perez for 2025 with an option for 2026 instead.

Ferrari, confident in "not too difficult" Hamilton signing

Lewis Hamilton raced in Mercedes colours for the last time in F1, and next season he will make the move to Ferrari, to drive alongside Charles Leclerc. Many have commented on the Briton's move, with some saying that it could be a mistake going up against Charles Leclerc, one of the best qualifiers on the grid, particularly since Hamilton seems to have suffered to find pace on Saturdays last season, being beaten by former Mercedes teammate, George Russell, 19-5 during Grand Prix qualifying. 

However Ferrari boss, Frederic Vasseur, is not too worried about this, since points are given on Sunday. Speaking more about the Italian team's signing of Hamilton, the Frenchman said that it was not too difficult to lure the seven time world champion to the Maranello based team's ranks. Hamilton will be present at Ferrari's presentation of their 2025 contender, which will take place the following day of the F1 livery launch.

It's not all farewell's at Mercedes

It's not all farewell's at Mercedes though, with Valtteri Bottas making a comeback to the German team, but not as a main driver, obviously, with both seats being filled by Russell, and star rookie, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, next season. The charismatic Finnish driver will instead take on a reserve driver role.

Toto Wolff was very happy with Bottas' return to Mercedes, lauding the driver for his humour, but most of all for his feedback and speed, achieving 20 poles and 10 Grand Prix wins for the Brackley squad when he partnered Hamilton between 2017 and 2021.