Red Bull appear to be shopping within their own driver pool as they assess potential replacements for Sergio Perez. They signed the Mexican from Racing Point in 2021 but want to promote their own young talent this time. Liam Lawson is leading the race after returning to RB at the expense of Daniel Ricciardo.

Helmut Marko called Yuki Tsunoda a candidate earlier this month but his prospects have suffered since. The Japanese driver was outperformed by the returning Lawson at the United States Grand Prix and crashed out of both qualifying and the race in Mexico. One outlet goes as far as to claim that Tsunoda has ‘no chance’ of a Red Bull seat after two poor weekends.

Christian Horner had the chance to sign Carlos Sainz earlier in the year. The 30-year-old was on the market from February onwards after Ferrari’s deal for Lewis Hamilton. However, there was tension between the Sainz and Verstappen camps at Toro Rosso in 2015, with their fathers at odds.

Horner was wary of reigniting that animosity on a larger and more visible scale. Red Bull also held talks with Fernando Alonso but he ended up re-signing at Aston Martin instead. Alonso and Verstappen would have formed surely the best driver line-up in F1, but may have been a combustible combination.

James Vowles tells Red Bull that Franco Colapinto should partner Max VerstappenWhen speaking to Auto Motor und Sport’s Michael Schmidt, Williams team boss James Vowles advocated for Franco Colapinto. Schmidt asked him where he’d place Colapinto if he was part of the Red Bull pool. And Vowles thinks the Argentine is already prepared to partner three-time world champion Verstappen.

He only joined F1 at the end of August, but has been no less impressive than Lawson, who’s competed in seven races to his five. Photo by Peter Fox – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty ImagesColapinto currently expects to miss a year despite his hugely impressive start. Williams signed Sainz to race alongside Alex Albon, and a move to Sauber no longer seems likely.

“I asked James Vowles, if he were the team boss or [part of] the team management of Red Bull and he had Colapinto in his own squad, would he put him in Toro Rosso or Red Bull? ” Schmidt said on the Formel Schmidt podcast. “He said in the Red Bull next to Verstappen.

”How much have Red Bull offered Williams for Franco Colapinto? Vowles’ comments are particularly significant because Red Bull are actively pursuing Colapinto. It seems unlikely that he’d bypass Lawson, instead slotting in next to Tsunoda at the junior team.

Red Bull may have doubts about Isack Hadjar, even as he competes for the F2 title, or they may simply see Colapinto as too good a talent to turn down. Either way, he could potentially put Lawson under pressure next year. It emerged on Wednesday that Red Bull have offered £15m for Colapinto.

This would effectively be a transfer fee as they buy him out of his Williams contract. Intriguingly, Alpine are also interested in Colapinto. While they have their driver line-up set for next year too, Jack Doohan is only on a 12-month contract.