Red Bull DECISION Made As Driver Lineup DEADLINE Looms!.

With the 2026 season fast approaching, there are still six seats on the F1 grid that need filling. Two are available at Mercedes, though Andrea Chimi Antonelli and George Russell are expected to extend, once Toto Wolff convinced one of them to just have a one-year contract, in case Max Verstappen comes calling. Alpine are still assessing their options for Pierre Gasly's team-mate, but at Red Bull, they need to find a driver for three of their four seats. Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson and Isaac Hadjar are all contracted until the end of this season. Obviously, Red Bull aren't going to get rid of all those drivers. The Red Bull pipeline of junior drivers might produce an incredible volume of talent at times, but even they can't bring in new drivers that quickly. Isaac Hadjar has impressed, while the two unfortunate drivers who have had to step foot in the Red Bull second seat have left a lot to be desired. It is a problem that they need to solve, and the first movements toward a solution have now begun. Today, I'll check out the driver that Red Bull are going to promote to F1 next season, and what might happen to Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson. So, don't go anywhere. Surviving as a driver at Red Bull is never an easy task. It doesn't matter if you're a Red Bull racing driver, or at the Racing Bulls, the pressure is always on to perform, with the team's reputation for being cutthroat with their drivers well-earned. You don't have to look very far to find the last time they cut a driver far too early. Liam Lawson lasted just two races this season at Red Bull before he was swapped with Yuki Tsunoda. Lawson actually said that the team set him up to fail by making extreme changes to his setup right before he was fired, but whether the team did it on purpose or not doesn't matter anymore, as it was probably a blessing in disguise. The curse of the Red Bull second seat is definitely real, as Yuki Tsunoda is finding out this season. Three points finishes in 14 races is hardly the return a top team like Red Bull are looking for. However, he has improved since Laurent Mechies took over as team principal from Christian Horner. Max Verstappen recently said that Mechies was making much smarter decisions during race weekends than Horner had been, and that has had a really positive impact on their performance. In Italy two weekends ago, Tsunoda was on for a points finish again before contact with Liam Lawson ruined his chances. Lawson and Tsunoda found themselves sharing the same piece of track midway through last Sunday's race at Monza, the racing bulls driver having pitted early on a soft hard tyre strategy, and the Red Bull man stopping a few laps later on a medium hard approach. Drama ensued heading into the Roja chicane when Lawson attempted a move around the outside, only for his front left tyre to make contact with the rear right of Tsunoda's, sending both drivers over the runoff area. While the position was returned to him, Tsunoda picked up significant damage on the floor of his car, and could only work his way back to 13th by the chequered flag, which he took a couple of seconds up on Lawson. Reflecting on his race and that incident, Tsunoda said, the first stint was okay, and in the second stint I got distracted by a guy who was not even fighting for the points. I picked up so much damage, which was enough to make me slow down enough to have a bad pace. It's very frustrating to be honest. I was fighting for points, and it was a very unnecessary move from Lawson. I don't know what to say. It's not the first time that Lawson has gotten into a tangle with another Red Bull driver. At the Mexican Grand Prix last year, Lawson made contact with Perez as the two battled outside of the points. While getting one up on the driver in the Red Bull second seat might seem like a win for Lawson, ending the possibility of a points finish for Tsunoda will not have been looked upon with pleasure by Laurent Mechies. You can understand Lawson's desire to get the better of Tsunoda, though, as the two are seemingly in direct competition to save their place in Formula One for next season. Red Bull's motorsport director Helmut Marko has long been searching for a suitable teammate for Max Verstappen. While Lawson and Tsunoda have been squabbling among themselves, Isaac Hajar's consistently strong performances have made him a promising candidate for next season. It is being widely discussed that the 20-year-old will move up to Red Bull next season alongside Max Verstappen. With the wider F1 world deciding that Hajar is all but guaranteed the Red Bull second seat, the question then becomes who drives for the racing bulls? Well, before I talk about that, if you're enjoying the video and want to catch more news and analysis from Formula One, then make sure to press the like button and subscribe to F1 Reverse. Thanks a lot. While Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson are both reasonable F1 drivers, a place at the racing bulls has never been about being okay. The racing bulls exist so that Red Bull can give their young drivers a chance in Formula One and decide whether they are the next big talent. This week, it has emerged that Red Bull may have decided that its next young talent is ready for a chance in F1. Arvid Lindblad made his F1 debut at Silverstone earlier this season. Just 17 years old at the time, he made plenty of waves in junior Formula racing over the last couple of years, earning raving reviews from many fans and pundits. But most importantly, Lindblad has impressed members of the Red Bull hierarchy, including Helmut Marko. The Britain's first full single-seater season started with the 2023 Italian F4 Championship, where, helped by his six victories, he finished third in the standings. Lindblad also finished fourth in the Euro 4 Championship and fifth in Formula 4 UAE. And later that year, he won the F4 race around the famous streets of Macau. In 2024, Lindblad stepped up to Formula 3 with Premo Racing, becoming the youngest winner in the championship's history at 16 years old, when he won the Bahrain Sprint race on his debut. He finished the year with four victories, which included a historic double at Silverstone, where he became the first driver ever to win every race on a single F3 weekend. Lindblad went into the final round at Monza as the only rookie in with a chance of claiming the title, but eventually finished fourth in the standings. Currently, Lindblad is in the midst of his debut Formula 2 season with Campos Racing, and so far, the Red Bull talent has shone. Until his retirement at Round 7 sprint race in Austria, the rookie had finished every race in the top 10. He's also won two races, the Jetta sprint and the Barcelona feature race. Since that Barcelona win, though, his performances have nosedived, with just three points finishes in ten races, though he had finished second in the Spain feature race before being disqualified for having too low a tyre pressure. While Lindblad has impressed in his junior career, he doesn't compare to those currently sitting at the top of the F1 Drivers' Championship. George Russell, Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc all won the F3 title, and all won the F2 title at the first time of asking, apart from Lando Norris, who lost out to George Russell in 2018. Obviously, Verstappen is an exceptional case, having only driven one season in F3 before his promotion to Formula 1. The point is, Lindblad doesn't have the CV to match the top drivers in the sport, and having only turned 18 in August, most who regularly watch him agree that at least another season in F2 would probably be a good idea. Whether the rumours of Lindblad's promotion to F1 are true or not, Red Bull are still expected to be looking for at least one new driver for 2026, with Alex Dunne another name that has been discussed. That means either Liam Lawson or Yuki Tsunoda will be without a seat next season. This is where their decision over Hajar becomes important. If the belief that he will be promoted to Red Bull proves true, then it has to be assumed that Tsunoda will lose his seat. He had four seasons at the Red Bull Junior team, with some mixed results. His incredibly short temper has lengthened over time, but his patchy performances haven't improved. Tsunoda can turn in some impressive drives at times, but he's never been able to do so consistently. If Hajar isn't promoted, then Red Bull will surely keep Tsunoda for another season. Laura Mechies is a big fan of Yuki and knows that with a more stable car, he will look a much better driver. That then means that Lawson will have to step aside for Lindblad, or potentially another new F1 driver. But what do you think will happen? Let me know your thoughts in the comments down below, and if you want to support the channel then make sure to check out our merch store at F1Reverse.com. Until next time, drive safe and bye for now.