Lawson and Tsunoda left fighting for Red Bull seat as Perez faces exit

Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda effectively have one race in which to stake their respective claims to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull Racing in 2025.

Should his departure be confirmed sources indicate that Lawson is set to get the job, but the final decision won’t be made until after the Abu Dhabi race.

Christian Horner has given the clearest signal yet that the team has reached the end of the road with the Mexican, and that he won’t be retained next season.

His Qatar weekend included a sluggish reaction to the pitlane traffic light going green at the start of Saturday’s sprint, and he was passed by Franco Colapinto.

Perez said he was trying to ensure clean air as the race was a test session, but the team was unaware of his plan.

In Sunday’s main race he spun just before the safety car restart, and suffered a clutch failure as he tried to get going.

Perez is understood to have a contract with no performance clauses on the team’s side, and thus ending it early is set to be an expensive exercise for Red Bull.

“Checo has had a very tough year, and obviously the points tables are what they are,” he said after the race.

“We’re very much focused on really supporting him to the to the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi, and then obviously it’s not an enjoyable situation for Checo being in this position, with speculation every week.

“He’s old enough and wise enough to know what the what the situation is, and let’s see where we are after Abu Dhabi.”

Asked by this writer about the traffic light issue he said: “I mean, we sent him to the end of the pit lane seven minutes ahead of Colapinto for a reason.

“But look, Checo has contributed a huge amount to this team in the four years that he’s been here. You know the world championship that Max achieved in ‘21, the constructors his World Championships in ‘22 and ’23, and obviously this year has been particularly hard.

“He’s won five Grands Prix for us, and he’s had some outstanding performances in races like Singapore, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, to name but a few. Everybody holds Checo in the highest of regard and respect.

“But obviously, the situation that we’re in is as painful for him as it is for the team.”

He added: “I’m going to let Checo come to his own conclusions. Nobody’s forcing him one way or another. It’s not a nice situation for him to obviously be in.”

“We got one more race this year, so we’ll throw everything at it. And hopefully he can have a strong race to end the season in Abu Dhabi.”

Red Bull’s problem is with whom to replace him having declined to take Carlos Sainz when he was free in the first half of the year and Perez has not yet been re-signed.

Liam Lawson’s was given the VCARB seat in place of Daniel Ricciardo to give him a chance to prove he was ready for promotion, but then the Franco Colapinto’s arrival on the scene made the Williams driver a candidate.

That would have involved a hefty buyout of his contract – said to be as much as $20m – which would potentially be compensated by sponsorship from Argentina. However after his crashes in Brazil and Las Vegas interest in him has faded.

Horner has indicated that the team is now focussing on its own talent pool.

Lawson has done a solid job, but arguably not quite enough to prove that he is a clear first choice over Yuki Tsunoda, who will test for Red Bull in Abu Dhabi net week.

Tsunoda is regarding in the RBR camp as not being consistent enough to take on the challenge of being Verstappen’s team mate, despite his obvious speed.

Isack Hadjar, who has a chance to win the F2 title in Abu Dhabi, remains the logical candidate for any vacant VCARB seat.