A brief history of driver changes and disasters at Red Bull Racing!
Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
Red Bull Racing will change their driver lineup ahead of the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix. The Bulls are facing performance issues and driver inconsistency in 2025. The Red Bull Racing lineup of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez broke apart after the 2024 season. Red Bull released Perez ahead of the 2025 season. The reason Red Bull Racing quoted was his lack of performance against teammate Max Verstappen. Perez was followed by Liam Lawson who couldn’t do any better. Even though Lawson had Grand Prix racing experience in their junior team, RB, he was still a rookie in Formula 1. Lawson spent two race weekends at the top seat to no avail.
Liam Lawson was unable to pull out the struggling Red Bull out of Q1. He was not able to help Max Verstappen at the front grid. Compared to Lawson, his former teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, was producing much better results in the inferior Racing Bulls cars. This prompted the Red Bull management to make an immediate switch from Liam Lawson to Yuki Tsunoda. The team has not confirmed Lawson’s release from the top seat yet, but reports suggest that Yuki Tsunoda is already replacing him in Japan. However, Liam Lawson isn’t the only driver to fall prey to Red Bull’s hideous driver decisions. Here are some other drivers who faced same problems with the Austrian outfit-
Daniel Ricciardo- The Red Bull Racing Champion Who Could Never Be
Daniel Ricciardo, fondly known as the Honey Badger, is a former Red Bull Racing driver. Danny Ric joined the team in 2014 after Mark Webber left the team. He was an instant hit and beat the reigning champion, Sebastian Vettel. Ricciardo piloted the Red Bull Racing team from 2015 until the arrival of Max Verstappen. Verstappen proved himself as a generation talent within a few years with the team. The young talent had some great seasons with Ricciardo before their clash. It was evident that Max Verstappen was faster than Daniel Ricciardo on many occasions, but the Aussie did not want to become the second driver for Red Bull. He claimed multiple wins with Red Bull and left the team in 2018.
Ricciardo joined Renault for 2019 and spent two seasons with them earning some quick podiums. He joined McLaren for the 2021 season and earned them their first victory in a decade. However, Ricciardo was unable to perform better than his teammate, Lando Norris at McLaren. He got replaced by Oscar Piastri in 2023 before the end of his contract. Danny Ric spent one season away from Formula 1 before returning to Red Bull as a reserve driver. He got a full-time seat for 2024 at RB but performance issues did not let him continue further. Red Bull threw away Daniel Ricciardo for Liam Lawson at the Singapore Grand Prix 2024.
Pierre Gasly- A Story of Sweet Revenge Against Red Bull Racing
Pierre Gasly became a Red Bull driver in 2019 after Ricciardo’s exit from the team. Gasly was the first driver to fall prey to Red Bull’s cut-throat competition. In his first season as a Red Bull driver, he earned merely 12 races to prove himself. Gasly was immediately replaced by Alex Albon in 2019 at the Belgian Grand Prix. He earned his first podium in Brazil with a second-place finish in 2019 itself. The next season saw him winning the 2020 Italian Grand Prix in his AlphaTauri, repeating Sebastian Vettel’s feat after 12 years. It was an emotional victory for Gasly and one of the defining moments of his career. Pierre Gasly stayed with Red Bull until 2022.
He switched to Alpine in 2023 pairing Esteban Ocon for the French outfit. Gasly claimed two podiums at Alpine in two years and became the number one driver in the team. He had many clashes with Ocon in 2024 until they reconciled in Sao Paulo. Pierre Gasly is leading the Alpines in 2025 with Jack Doohan as his partner.
Alex Albon- Clowned at Red Bull Racing, Crowned at Williams Racing
Alexander Albon, promoted hastily by Red Bull, came to fill the void that Pierre Gasly couldn’t. He joined the team in 2019 and started his first full-time season at Red Bull Racing in 2020. Albon was midly competitive compared to Gasly. He even claimed two podiums in 2020. Alas, Alex Albon was not even considered for the 2021 season. He was kicked out of Red Bull Racing in favor of Sergio “Checo” Perez. Albon sat out the 2021 Formula 1 season.
He made his comeback in 2022 with Williams F1 team. Williams were one of the worst teams of the grid in that season. However, Albon became a steady anchor at Williams. He kept securing points and helping the team create better results year-by-year. Alex Albon found himself a perfect teammate in Carlos Sainz for the 2025 season. Albon’s midfield prowess earns him the respect of every Formula 1 fan. He is the perfect lead driver for Williams achieving astonishing results in 2025 compared to the previous seasons. Albon has found himself in the top-10 in both qualifying sessions and finished in the top-10 in both races in 2025.
Honorable Mentions- De Vries and Perez
Here are the three Red Bull drivers who continued racing in Formula 1 after their release from the main team. Nyck De Vries is also a former Red Bull junior driver who was kicked out by the team. De Vries, a former champion in Formula-E, couldn’t sustain the pressure at Red Bull and constantly lost to Yuki Tsunoda. He lost his F1 seat in 2023 much like Pierre Gasly. De Vries has not returned to F1 as of 2025. Sergio Perez has also not announced his return to F1 after his exit in 2024. Perez was competitive against Verstappen in his inital years, but he couldn’t keep up with Verstappen. This led to his demise from F1 and his ultimate loss.
What are your thoughts on Red Bull’s poor and egoistic driver decisions? Do you think Yuki Tsunoda will magically change their fate in the upcoming races or will he succumb to the pressure?
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I work as a Writer at The Playoffs specialising in NHL, Formula 1 and Motorsports. I got into online journalism a couple of years ago. I used to be an intern for a website managing their Formula 1 content and then I served an entire year as a contractual writer.
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For me, online journalism was not something I expected. I am a Mechanical Engineer aiming to join Formula 1. At the same time, I am a poet, writer and my university’s Literary Club Lead. One day the dots connected together and I realised I could use my writing skills to convey my passion for Motorsports.
The biggest aspects I love about my role are- Scuderia Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel. When I am not fawning over them I like to convey my opinions to the public, in a manner which helps them gain a new point of view. I love helping people explore new ideas about Motorsports and obviously get recognised as a writer all over the world.
Message to Readers: I promise you one day you’ll see me managing operations on track with a Formula 1 team ; )
