Red Bull in 2026: What could be the potential driver line-ups?
- Maham Mir
- 4 hours ago
- 7 min read
Written by Maham Mir, Edited by Meghana Sree
Red Bull is yet to decide who will partner Max Verstappen for 2026, as well as the fate of the two seats at Racing Bulls. With Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar all contending for contracts as well as fresh talent on the come up, DIVEBOMB takes a look at who might occupy three of the four remaining seats for 2026.
With the dawn of the 2026 season and its new regulations fast approaching, many eyes in the world of Formula One are on Red Bull and Racing Bulls as they decide their future line-ups.
The situation as it currently stands has Max Verstappen tied with Red Bull until 2028. The remaining three seats, one at the senior team and two at the junior team Racing Bulls, are currently occupied by Yuki Tsunoda, and Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson respectively.
All three of these seats are currently free for the 2026 season and movement between the teams is both possible and likely.
However, although these are the current drivers racing for the Red Bull family in F1, young talent is waiting in the wings like Arvid Lindblad, therefore leaving the futures of Tsunoda, Hadjar and Lawson up in the air.
Verstappen’s security
Verstappen’s seat is the most secure of the four Red Bull associated drives available in the sport, after rumours of a move to Mercedes for 2026 was dispelled.
As a consecutive four-time world champion who has seen a handful of drivers promoted to partner him at the senior team, Verstappen is in no doubt of seeing out the first year of the new regulations with the team.
All 68 of his race wins have been with Red Bull, as well as his four championship titles. The partnership between Verstappen and Red Bull is perhaps one of the most successful in the sport, one that includes the 2023 season where numerous records were broken, Red Bull winning all but one race that season. Verstappen scored 19 out of the team’s total of 21 wins.
With one of the most withstanding contracts on the current grid, Verstappen’s unlikely to call any other team his home in the near future.
It is the remaining three seats that are up for debate including perhaps the most difficult seat in F1, the second Red Bull seat to partner Verstappen.
Lawson’s misfortune
After Sergio Pérez departed the team at the end of 2024, Lawson was announced to replace him at the senior Red Bull team. His time at the team was less than satisfactory for Red Bull’s management and he was demoted after only two race weekends.
The likelihood of Lawson being recalled to the senior team is low. Although he has enjoyed success at the junior team upon his return including a career best qualifying position of P3 and a career best points haul of 10 after finishing P5 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the senior team stance implies that Lawson remains out of running for the second seat.
Tsunoda’s difficulties
Replacing Lawson fell onto the shoulders of Tsunoda who has, according to many eyes within the paddock, failed in delivering the consistency required of that second seat.
Starting his tenure with the team at his home race in Japan, he failed to score points on his first outing for the team, but secured his maiden points for Red Bull the next round in Bahrain with a P9 finish.
Tsunoda’s time at the senior team so far has also weathered the departure of former Team Principal Christian Horner. With the arrival of Laurent Mekies, who worked with Tsunoda at Racing Bulls, he has the reassurance that the second seat will remain his until the end of the season but no guarantees beyond that.
The likelihood of Tsunoda retaining his seat at the senior team is also slim. Despite the commitment from the team to allow him to keep his seat until the end of the season, only a dramatic turnaround in performance would be enough to convince management that he is the right driver to help Verstappen bring the team back to the top next year.
Although he had a solid weekend in Baku and Austin — securing a season best finishing position of P6 in Baku and securing points in both the sprint and race in Austin — the consistency required from the second Red Bull driver is yet to be seen.
Hadjar’s potential
The latest name to be associated with the second Red Bull seat is that of 2025 rookie driver, Hadjar.
Despite a disappointing season start which saw a crash out on the formation lap in Australia, the rookie has gone from strength to strength since then.
Facing only one Q1 elimination during the 2025 season so far with a podium under his belt in his maiden F1 season as well, it is a fair assessment that Hadjar is undoubtedly in the running for rookie of the year.
If rumours are to be believed, Hadjar is the front-running candidate to replace Tsunoda at the end of the 2025 season. However, neither the team nor the driver have acknowledged these rumours directly.
Hadjar, ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, stated to the media, “I didn’t sign anything”, with regards to a potential contract at the senior Red Bull team starting in 2026.
Yet he did not rule out a promotion, adding: “The goal has always been to be a Red Bull driver since I signed with Red Bull, with the Red Bull junior team, so I think it is quite clear.”
Hadjar’s sentiments echo that of his predecessors including Tsunoda, Lawson, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly who were all Red Bull junior drivers and spent time at the junior team before being promoted.
Unfortunately, they did not enjoy success at the team like they would have hoped; a cycle Hadjar would hope to break if he were to be promoted.
Beyond F1
Perhaps one of the most well-known things about the Red Bull family within F1 is the strength of their driver programme and the impressive talent shown by their junior drivers.
One driver to have recently risen through the ranks of the driver programme and making a name for himself in Formula 2 is Lindblad.
Currently seventh in the F2 standings with two race wins, Lindblad was granted a Super License towards the end of the 2024 season. An exception had to be made for Lindblad as he was still 17 at the time, the normally required age for a Super License being 18.
With Red Bull rushing to secure his ability to compete in F1, and the exception it required, it is all but confirmed that the young driver will be taking the leap from F2 to F1 sooner rather than later.
His impressive P6 result during the Mexico City FP1, the highest of the nine rookies that were fielded in that session, will also do no harm to Lindblad’s chances of being promoted to F1 next year.
Another young driver to take into consideration is F2 driver Alex Dunne. Although a left field possibility, and a driver currently not a part of the Red Bull junior family, Dunne has recently ended his association with the McLaren Driver Development Programme.
Rumours have been swirling that this decision came off the back of interest from Marko for a potential drive at Racing Bulls. Only time will tell whether outside talent will be favoured for a coveted spot in F1.
The two questions that remain are, who will be replaced at Racing Bulls – or even at Red Bull if the team wants to bet on a rookie like Mercedes did with Kimi Antonelli – and when will this move occur?
The choice
In their unique situation of being able to decide the future of four drivers rather than the standard two, the Red Bull family certainly have some tough decisions to make ahead of the 2026 season.
Although the ethos of the junior team suggests that young talent should be prioritised, Racing Bulls seems to have become the recuperating place for many drivers who failed to succeed at the senior team.
But with fresh blood knocking on the doors, it looks unlikely that Tsunoda will have the luxury of remaining in F1 with the junior team should his performance stagnate over the final four rounds this season.
Of the three current drivers with unconfirmed contracts, Hadjar seems to be the only one who can look forward to a secure future in F1.
Looking at the current state of play, Lawson is more likely to remain within the Red Bull family going into 2026, with Tsunoda seemingly approaching the end of his journey at Red Bull.
Although the Japanese driver enjoyed success at the junior team over a longer period, so far he has faltered in proving his mettle paired with Verstappen and will likely have to make way for a replacement, given Red Bull’s harsh history of driver management.
For Tsunoda, this might open new options, and with Honda exiting the Red Bull project at the end of 2025 and partnering up with Aston Martin, a reserve driver position with the team might be on the table.
The three seats open with the Red Bull family have been subject to much speculation, and with the new regulations fast approaching, all eyes will be on Tsunoda, Lawson and Hadjar to prove that they deserve to remain with the teams for 2026.
