Horner: 'It did not make sense to keep going with De Vries'

Max Verstappen will not have to leave Red Bull Racing for the time being and, given his contract, will not be leaving the dominant F1 team. That makes Sergio Perez's seat the most sought-after spot on the F1 grid. Team boss Christian Horner explains his reflections.

De Vries not a Red Bull contender,

Indeed, with AlphaTauri under its belt, Red Bull is in the unique situation of having a kind of test programme in the F1 championship. Verstappen's contract is fixed until 2028, but Perez's contract expires after 2024. Although there are already many rumours that Perez will have to make way for a new driver at Red Bull after this year, Horner stressed to Speedcafe.com: "We’re happy with Checo and he will be our driver next year."

This shifts the question to a year later. Is Perez still tenable for 2025? If not, who will sit in his seat. Daniel Ricciardo seems to have been brought to AlphaTauri midway through the 2023 season for a reason. Horner: "The whole purpose of AlphaTauri and Toro Rosso before was to be training drivers as potential candidates for Red Bull Racing. That’s why, with Nyck [de Vries], it didn’t feel like he was going to be a Red Bull Racing candidate, so then the argument you put is, does it make sense to keep going?"

So Ricciardo is?

In exchange for De Vries, Ricciardo joined the training team. The 33-year-old F1 veteran with eight race wins behind his name seems to be a notable driver for AlphaTauri. The Australian is not the one needing for a training programme. That he is now at AlphaTauri anyway suggests that Ricciardo is set to take Perez's seat within a short time.

Horner: "I think ’25, it’s just good always to have options [...]  if Checo delivers, we’ll keep going with Checo. If he doesn’t, for whatever reason, then we won’t be just restricted to AlphaTauri drivers, because there’s an awful lot of drivers up and down the pit lane that would like to drive a Red Bull car." Asked if Ricciardo is an option for 2025, Horner said, "When I see what Fernando Alonso is doing, and Lewis Hamilton. It’s all about what’s up here [in the mind] that counts."