The Formula 1 driver market for 2025 may seem settled, but there’s still plenty of uncertainty with many rumours swirling around the paddock in recent days.

Officially, the only open seat is at Red Bull’s sister team, RB, but talks about Sergio Perez’s future on the main team are increasing every day. 

The Mexican’s season has been a huge disappointment not only for him but mainly for his team. Although he started the year with high expectations, after signing a two-year contract extension, his performances have been well below what Red Bull needs from a teammate to Max Verstappen.

While the Dutchman clinched his fourth drivers’ title, Perez is now set to finish the season in a disappointing eighth place in the standings. His poor results have mainly hurt his reputation but also made it more difficult for Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship battle.

In the last five races, Perez has only scored seven points, which compared to Verstappen’s two victories looks very bad. Therefore, even though he has a contract until 2026, it’s now basically a known secret that Red Bull will let him go at the end of the season.

If Perez leaves, the Red Bull seat becomes one of the most desirable yet most challenging positions on the grid. Driving alongside Verstappen is no easy task, as many former teammates like Alex Albon or Pierre Gasly, have found out. So who is the right fit for the seat?

Originally, as the hottest candidate was labeled Carlos Sainz, which naturally came right after the announcement that Lewis Hamilton would take his Ferrari seat next year. However, Red Bull wasn’t as interested as many people thought and the Spaniard ended up signing for Williams.

Meanwhile, Franco Colapinto, Logan Sargeant’s replacement in Williams, showed more potential than expected, which made Red Bull interested. Christian Horner was even seen leaving the Williams hospitality in Brazil, which raised even more questions.

Unfortunately, Colapinto has closed these doors for himself with his recent crashes, which have overshadowed his earlier strong performances. That he is no longer considered for any of the seats has also been recently confirmed by Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

As a result, Red Bull now seems more interested in promoting from within with Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda, both currently driving for the sister team, remaining as the strongest contenders.

However, Tsunoda is being totally overlooked by Red Bull. The Japanese driver extended his contract with RB earlier this year and since that time no one really talks about promoting him to the main team, which even he recognises.

On the other hand, Lawson is now looking as the top choice for Red Bull after being chosen as the replacement for Daniel Ricciardo earlier this year and immediately impressing the team with strong performances.

If Lawson or potentially Tsunoda moves up, RB will need a new driver, with Isack Hadjar, a young talent currently fighting for the Formula 2 title, being likely to step in.

He has shown promise and fits Red Bull’s tradition of promoting from its junior program, which the team’s advisor Helmut Marko and Christian Horner seems to be most focused on now, based on their recent comments.

The team has multiple times confirmed that the final decision will be made after the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Therefore, we can most likely expect to know the full 2025 lineup within the next week.