F1 Today | Hadjar announced at VCARB, Lawson reveals true story of dinner
F1 News
It's been another busy day in the F1 world, specifically for those involved with the Red Bull family. Isack Hadjar has been announced as the VCARB driver for 2025 after Liam Lawson was promoted to Red Bull. Christian Horner reveals that he would be open to letting Yuki Tsunoda leave the Red Bull family as the Japanese driver heads into his fifth season with the junior team. Furthermore, Lawson explained exactly what happened between George Russell and Max Verstappen at the end-of-season Formula 1 dinner in Abu Dhabi.
Hadjar's VCARB move made official:
The Formula 1 grid for 2025 is complete. Racing Bulls' line-up next year will consist of Hadjar and Yuki Tsunoda. “Visa Cash App Racing Bulls (VCARB) today announce Isack Hadjar will join Yuki Tsunoda for the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship, as the team sees another Red Bull Junior Driver step up into one of the most sought-after seats in motorsport,” the team announced in a statement.
The 20-year-old Hadjar raced for the Campos Racing team in Formula 2, where he quickly emerged as one of the most promising young talents. He was this year's F2 vice-champion. Winner Gabriel Bortoleto will be on the grid with Sauber in 2025, too. See more on Hadjar's arrival here.
Horner is open to letting Tsunoda go:
Christian Horner admits Red Bull Racing may have to 'let Yuki Tsunoda go' if Red Bull's sister team does not need to call on the Japanese driver in 2025. Instead of the experienced Tsunoda, Red Bull chose his teammate Liam Lawson, who will take Sergio Perez's place alongside Max Verstappen in the upcoming Formula 1 season. Horner says he is prepared to accept any consequences of that choice. “We're acutely aware that if we're not able to provide an opportunity for Yuki – being, in all honesty, this year - does it make sense [to keep him]?” he is quoted by The Race.
Horner is happy to keep the option open should Lawson's performance disappoint. He does, however, put the ball in Tsunoda's court: he is the one who needs to show even more of himself if he is still to be given the chance. See the full story here.
Lawson tells the dinner story of Verstappen and Russell:
Liam Lawson opened up about the GPDA drivers' dinner organised in Abu Dhabi, which almost all Formula 1 drivers attended. Max Verstappen's new teammate says exactly what happened when George Russell arrived and refused to sit next to the Red Bull Racing driver, with whom he was arguing at the time.
Lawson is initially unsure if he should tell the story but decides to do it anyway. "I'll tell you then because it was f****** funny," laughs the brand-new Red Bull Racing driver to the Pitstop Podcast. "We rock up, and we are at this big table. Me and Yuki got there together, and we weren't the first people there, there were something like six or seven people there."
The 22-year-old continued: "But as the table was filling up, that side of the table was pretty much all full. Opposite me was Max, and then there were three chairs to the left at the end of the table that was left, and George hadn't arrived yet. So we were like: this is perfect, we're just going to save that spot right next to Max for him." See the rest of the story HERE!
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