Christian Horner says it is too early for any kind of decision regarding Red Bull’s F1 line-up, as he talks about various names linked.
Amid the talks of Red Bull’s second seat, suddenly both the seats are being talked upon due to the recent controversies. Sergio Perez is out of contract and is one of the contenders, but despite a long deal, Max Verstappen is talked upon too.
The Dutchman has played down every chance of leaving but Red Bull will have to keep themselves on their toes for any possibility. Apart from Perez, the one name that pops up always is Daniel Ricciardo but Horner isn’t putting down Yuki Tsunoda as well.
Additionally, they do have Carlos Sainz as an unemployed driver and with previous Red Bull links, while Liam Lawson is waiting in the wings after a decent showing. But it is too early for any kind of decision as per Horner. “I think it is still very early in the year to be thinking about this,” he said to media.
“Yuki is a very quick driver, we know that, but we want to field the best pairing we can have at Red Bull. Sometimes, you have got to look outside the pool as well. We have had a very fast unemployed driver win [in Australia], the market is reasonably fluid with certain drivers. Based on a performance like that, you couldn’t rule any possibility out.
“We just want to take our time. Checo was compromised [in Australia] but has had a great start to the season, we are not in any desperate rush. Carlos is the only driver who has beaten Red Bull, so he appears to be our nemesis,” summed up Horner, who had kind words for Ricciardo amid a difficult start to his campaign.
Thinking of a re-start in Australia, Ricciardo had a tough run again after a Q1 knockout. Horner went to him to cheer him up pre-race as he reckons that encouragement is never a bad thing. “He had a tough weekend in Australia, it looked like he had a pretty similar pace to Yuki in the race, obviously, he had a tough qualfying getting that lap disallowed, so I just want to give him a bit of encouragement,” he said.
“He’s a big boy. He’ll pick himself up. Sometimes, being a Formula 1 driver, can be a bit lonely. So a bit of encouragement is never a bad thing. That situation with Daniel has been framed as he’s in the hot seat for maybe taking a seat here.”
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