DRIVER MARKET: Who’s in the hot seat to partner Verstappen at Red Bull for 2026?

The battle to become Max Verstappen's team mate at Red Bull in 2026 is hotting up, with Yuki Tsunoda, Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson all performing to a high level in Baku, as all four Red Bull family cars scored points for the first time since Russia 2020.

Tsunoda is the incumbent, but Hadjar's rookie season has so far turned heads, while Lawson has gone on a run of form, too. And then there's Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad, who is currently seventh in Formula 2.

It's a nice problem to have for Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies and Racing Bulls chief Alan Permane. And while they are not in a rush to make the final call, they are expected to decide before the finale in Abu Dhabi.

Plenty of time, then, for all four to build their case...

Yuki Tsunoda

Tsunoda got the opportunity he was craving ahead of his home race in Japan when Red Bull dispensed with Lawson's services after just two Grands Prix and promoted the 25-year-old.

But the Japanese racer was unable to recapture the form that saw him start the Australian Grand Prix P5 and take P6 next time out in the Sprint in China for Racing Bulls until Race 17 in Baku.

It has become a familiar pattern for the driver in the second Red Bull seat to struggle as Verstappen excels on the other side of the garage, with Tsunoda the latest to have found himself in a world of pain.

But since his old Racing Bulls Team Principal Mekies became his boss at Red Bull this summer, Tsunoda's form has seen an upturn. He has improved his Qualifying speed and worked hard with the team to understand why he has failed to translate that into race pace on Sundays. This included him cancelling a trip back home to Japan in the summer break in favour of heading to the simulator to work with his engineers.

On Friday in Baku, he made something of a breakthrough, after changes he had made in the simulator pre-event – having noticed something in Verstappen's data that gave him an idea – translated into confidence and lap time in the real world. "The long run seems much better," he said after practice. "Now it makes sense so far with the long run."

Tsunoda carried that pace through into the race, securing a strong P6 that he said "gives me more confidence in the future" – and earning praise from senior management.

It is, of course, just one race – and Tsunoda needs to do that consistently over the remainder of the season. Do that, and it will give Red Bull something to think about when looking at next year.

His near five-year experience in F1 could be a benefit in 2026 as the squad get to grips with a new rule cycle and a first campaign with their own power unit, created in conjunction with US manufacturer Ford.

If Red Bull choose to go with another driver, Tsunoda could still go back to Racing Bulls, who are currently regular points scorers as they fight for P5 in the Teams' Championship, if he has a strong run over the next few races.

Miss out on a seat at either of those teams and there could be a chance of a reserve role at Aston Martin, which will be powered by Tsunoda's long-time backers Honda (whose relationship with Red Bull ends at the end of this season) from next year – or he could pursue a reunion with former team mate Pierre Gasly at Alpine.

But for now, his Plan A is to deliver more performances like Baku to try and retain his race seat with the Red Bull family.

Isack Hadjar

Hadjar's rookie season got off to a bumpy start when he crashed on the formation lap of his maiden Grand Prix – but things have improved dramatically since then, peaking with a superb first podium in the Netherlands.

He's scored points in eight Grands Prix and one Sprint to sit ninth in the Drivers' standings – with his form so impressive, he's been heavily linked with a promotion to Red Bull next year for several weeks.

Racing Bulls boss Permane has praised the Frenchman's speed and overall approach to the job in hand. "One thing I like about him is that he’s ready to listen, he’s ready to accept advice and help. He doesn't want to do everything his own way," said Permane ahead of the race in Baku.

"He knows he's [only] done 16 races, so he's happy to accept advice and input from others and take that on board and learn from that.

"We can see that sometimes he's a little bit harsh on himself, which he's working on, but strength-wise, that would be the main takeaway, that he's happy to learn."

Hadjar was particularly hard on himself for getting caught out by the wind in Qualifying in Baku and then again in the race – the latter of which cost him two positions as he ended up 10th, two places down on where he started.

Part of that frustration may well have stemmed from the fact that the error came on a weekend where Lawson and Tsunoda had their best weekends of the campaign.

But Hadjar should give himself credit for the body of work he's developed across the first 17 races of the year. That Red Bull senior management rate him highly proves he's doing the right things.

His best-case scenario is a Red Bull seat, his worst-case scenario is a Racing Bulls seat. That's not a bad position to be in, eh?

Liam Lawson

Understandably, Lawson took some time to get over the pain of being demoted by Red Bull after just two Grand Prix weekends, and thus his initial few races at Racing Bulls were nothing to write home about.

But he successfully turned the page on that difficult chapter, the New Zealander breaking his 2025 duck in his sixth race for Racing Bulls with eighth and then going on to score on four more occasions.

The 23-year-old is coming into form at potentially the right time. His career-best fifth in Baku was his third score in the last five races. In that period, he's scored the same number of points as team mate Hadjar.

The feeling in the paddock is that a return to Red Bull is not on the agenda – but his upturn in form means there remains a strong chance to stay at Racing Bulls for at least another year.

Given Hadjar's sharp upward trajectory, it feels like Lawson's battle is with Tsunoda and Lindblad to secure one of the Racing Bulls berths.

Continue his recent form, and he'll be tough to overlook.

Arvid Lindblad

Arvid Lindblad has emerged as the strongest Red Bull junior prospect for making the step into Formula 1, having impressed in his first F3 campaign last year with Prema, where he won on debut and was the only rookie heading into the final round of the championship in contention for the title, before ultimately ending up fourth.

The 18-year-old has had some high points in F2 this year – notably victories in the Jeddah Sprint and Barcelona Feature – but the Brit is now out of title contention, 79 points adrift of the championship lead in seventh with two events to go.

Nonetheless, Red Bull see something in him, to the extent they've run him in two private tests using old-spec machinery from sister team Racing Bulls this year, and put him in the car for FP1 for the first time at the British Grand Prix.

His speed, maturity and ability to quickly adapt has impressed Red Bull – and having already accrued enough points to earn his Super Licence, he's ready to step up into Formula 1 whenever the call comes.

Red Bull just need to decide if he's ready to make the step up into a Racing Bulls seat next year – or if he would benefit from a second season in F2 to hone his skills and, ideally, win the championship.