Franco Colapinto who is Red Bull in 2025? Our information on the dossier

The image couldn't be more telling. This Friday, Christian Horner was seen and filmed by television cameras leaving Williams Hospitality where a meeting had obviously just taken place. Questioned on the subject at a press conference, James Vowles actually got out of the trap with a magnificent pirouette. “We recently signed a new sponsor for the cafe, and he (Horner) really wanted to try it. That was a good part of the conversation. He appreciated it. »

The Argentine supporters, present en masse in Sao Paulo and known for their boundless enthusiasm, were quick to make a big deal out of what they had just seen, continuing the montages with the head of Sergio Pérez replaced by that of Franco Colapinto in a Red Bull suit. Optimism rose even further when Rubén Daray, a former national driver who was supposedly the first to announce Logan Sargeant's replacement by Colapinto earlier this year, revealed this time in a video that the Argentinian had signed with Red Bull, within the A team!

Horner and Marko once again opposed in the Colapinto file

In the comments, Colapinto agent Jamie Campbell-Walter cooled everyone down by responding to this brave gentleman: “Thank you for letting us know, funny that you know before me, it’s a mystery!” he laughed at the situation. A little context, however, to understand the potential game of musical chairs within the red bull. In the Red Bull galaxy, there are in fact four seats. That of Max Verstappen at Red Bull is already locked. His teammate Sergio Pérez is under contract until 2026, but his future hangs by a thread and if he has managed to save his head on numerous occasions since his arrival in 2021, the Mexican should not do so. achieve this time.

There are many candidates for his succession. Yuki Tsunoda is guaranteed to be at least with Racing Bulls and has very little chance of being promoted to the A team, unlike Liam Lawson, who is in the running to be with Red Bull, and who is guaranteed at least to be with Racing Bulls. This would leave a place available in Team A if Lawson does not go there, and obviously, Franco Colapinto's entourage is following the progress of this whole little ride very closely.

A month ago, the Argentinian's agent told us this about the future of his foal. “The reality is that there are no seats available in F1 for 2025indeed argued Jamie Campbell-Walter. Afterwards, things can change quickly… Franco has a reserve contract for 2025 with Williams, he will honor it. The priority remains F1, but we will see if we can also run it in Formula E, WEC or Indycar. Let's see how he performs this fall and the impact it will have on other teams. Given the opportunity, Franco will be at the top of quite a few lists. »

It seems that the young Williams driver is at the top of the Red Bull fold. Or at least that of Christian Horner. According to our information, Christian Horner would not be against the idea of ​​​​recovering, at Red Bull, the one who has already become a national icon in his country, with all that this implies regarding his financial partners and potential marketing benefits for the team, moreover at the time of the potential loss of Sergio Pérez's numerous Mexican supporters.

However, two problems remain. Red Bull already has a talented young driver in its ranks waiting for his chance for next year. He is French, his name is Isack Hadjar, and he is currently fighting for the Formula 2 title, just 4.5 points behind leader Gabriel Bortoleto, despite repeated events to the contrary. Favoring a driver from another academy over a very successful in-house junior would be a strange message sent by Red Bull.

Asked to speak about one of his potential future teammates next year, Max Verstappen did not want to talk about the subject, but confirmed the growing attractiveness of the Argentine, around whom many Argentinian societies were organized. “It’s a little difficult for me to answer. I'm busy with other things to improve on the car. He's doing a great job at the moment in Formula 1, and it's great to see. I understand, of course, that it's very interesting for a lot of teams to have him, so it's up to the team to see what they want to do.

Still according to our information, Helmut Marko would rather favor Isack Hadjar, present at all the Grands Prix from the United States and until the end of the season in a reserve role. The Austrian once again seems not to be on the same page as his sidekick Christian Horner on this issue. His media outing, in which he clarified after Mexico that “Isack Hadjar is ready for F1 and he beat Franco Colapinto in all junior categories” was a cordial and thinly veiled way of confirming it.

Financial choice versus sporting choice?

It remains to be seen who the Red Bull board will decide to follow between Horner and Marko, and what decision it will make between the financial choice and that of internal sporting logic. If Colapinto is chosen, there would then be two victims: Liam Lawson, who would be forced to stay with Racing Bulls, and Isack Hadjar, who would undoubtedly be sentenced to a year in reserve, perhaps waiting until 2026, with no guarantee of a seat however.

The other obstacle for a Colapinto-Red Bull alliance is more of a contractual nature. Franco Colapinto has in fact been a young driver in the Williams fold for two years and is as such protected by a contract. The Red Bull galaxy would in fact condition a possible arrival of the native from the outskirts of Buenos Aires to a severance of all contractual links with the Grove team. In other words, we do not want to train a driver, make him progress, then lose him once he has reached maturity, in the event that Williams exercises his right of recall.

Which Williams is not in favor of, naturally. Unless an agreement, financial or of another nature, is found so that everyone can get along. “We are exploring possibilities with a number of teams who are interested at the moment, explained James Vowles in Brazil. It would be wrong to do anything other than speculate here. There is nothing to communicate beyond this point. I think, especially considering the fact that he's 21 years old and my responsibility is also to him and to make sure that we're doing the right thing, I want to make sure that when we will have news, we will communicate it to the whole world, but there is not much to say at the moment. »

The decision does not seem imminent, and the end of the season could be decisive. The Red Bull board is indeed waiting to have as many elements as possible in its possession to see as clearly as possible. Franco Colapinto and Liam Lawson have every interest in continuing to perform well in F1, and Isack Hadjar would be well inspired to win the F2 title in Abu Dhabi in December. Just to put maximum luck on your side. Will we have a third French driver in F1 next year?

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