For its secondary Formula 1 team, RB, Red Bull is reportedly considering a full rookie driver lineup next year.
This energy drink company's leading F1 advisor, Dr. Helmut Marko, has frequently emphasized recently that the team, once known as Alpha Tauri and Toro Rosso, should return to its foundational role as a "junior team."
Presently, 34-year-old ex-race victor Daniel Ricciardo is finding it challenging to match the pace of his teammate, 24-year-old Yuki Tsunoda, who has held the position since 2021.
According to Auto Motor und Sport, Red Bull's efforts to transfer Ricciardo to Sauber have been met with minimal enthusiasm as the newly Audi-owned team "has shown little interest so far."
One potential path might be to release Ricciardo altogether, paving the way for the promising Tsunoda to advance and replace the faltering Sergio Perez at Red Bull Racing.
It looks certain that Liam Lawson will make his full-time Formula 1 debut with RB starting in 2025, with Isack Hadjar, currently leading the F2 championship and a Red Bull junior, perhaps joining him as a rookie teammate.
"We will analyse and evaluate the performance of the Red Bull juniors in more detail during the summer break," disclosed Marko to Speed Week.
The veteran stated that if not for a string of bad luck this season in Formula 2, the 19-year-old French-Algerian Hadjar would be "miles ahead" in the standings.
"Isack did well in his most recent (F1) test," mentioned Marko. "He never had the soft tyres on his car, but he showed strong performances and his comments were good too."
Moreover, while Marko commends Ferrari-supported Haas for giving Oliver Bearman his full-time race debut next year, he believes the 19-year-old was merely "in the right place at the right time" when Carlos Sainz fell ill earlier this year.
"His race in the Ferrari gave him his grand prix future," noted the Austrian. "If you take his Formula 2 results into account, things would look a lot worse for him. But it's good that young people are coming to Formula 1. I'm absolutely in favour of that," Marko concluded.
