Formula 1: Who should Red Bull name Max Verstappen’s teammate for 2020?

Who should Red Bull Racing sign to be Max Verstappen’s teammate for the 2020 Formula 1 season after running two drivers as his teammate throughout 2019?

For a few months, there was speculation that Max Verstappen could trigger a performance clause in his contract with Aston Martin Red Bull Racing to get out of his three-year contract, which runs through the 2020 Formula 1 season, one year early.

This performance clause was confirmed by his personal manager, Raymond Vermeulen, after team manager Helmut Marko used it to illustrate that he was concerned that the 22-year-old Dutchman would leave the Milton Keynes-based team to drive for Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, the only team to win any driver or constructor championships since the start of the V6 turbo hybrid era in 2014, next year.

However, this performance exit clause expired because Verstappen entered the summer break in the top three in the driver standings, locking him into his contract through next year.

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But for Red Bull Racing, locking up Verstappen is only half the battle. There is still a lot of uncertainty as it pertains to who the seven-time Grand Prix winner’s teammate will be next year.

Just 12 races into the season, Red Bull Racing replaced Pierre Gasly with Scuderia Toro Rosso rookie Alexander Albon, as Gasly’s struggles cost Red Bull Racing several points throughout the season. Albon is slated to finish out the season with the team, but beyond that, things are far less certain.

Marko and team principal Christian Horner both stated that Gasly would not be replaced before the 2019 season ended, yet they replaced him anyway, so whether or not any additional claims from these two Red Bull Racing officials are to be taken with anything more than a grain of salt remains to be seen.

There were even reports that Red Bull Racing tried to sign two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso to replace Gasly even though Red Bull Racing and Alonso have been at odds in the past, and on multiple occasions over the course of several years.

There have been additional rumors that former Red Bull Racing driver Daniil Kvyat, who was replaced by Verstappen and demoted to Toro Rosso during the 2016 season and replaced by Gasly at Toro Rosso in the 2017 season before returning to Toro Rosso ahead of the 2019 season, could end up as the teammate to the man who initially replaced him in 2016 next year.

If we are to believe what Marko and Horner recently stated, Albon will either retain his seat or Gasly will get another shot with Red Bull Racing next season. Kvyat is also in the mix, according to Horner, although Marko says that it is “clear” that he will be back at Toro Rosso.

Here is what Marko had to say, according to Formula 1.

"“Kvyat is confirmed for next year already, at least internally it’s clear. Then it’s between Gasly and Albon [for the second Red Bull seat]…We will make our evaluation after Mexico.”"

Here is what Horner added.

"“He needs to push Max, he needs to deliver. He needs to build on what he’s doing at the moment. We’re only in the third race but he’s doing a good job. He’s taking everything in his stride. I’ve been really impressed with how calm he is, how much he’s using the engineers, looking at the data. And he’s now contributing to the car going quicker.“[The seat] is his to lose in many respects. All three [Albon, Kvyat and Gasly] are under consideration for next year. We don’t need to rush any decisions – all the drivers are RBR drivers and at the right time we’ll make the choice for the future.”"

Gasly has certainly gotten his mojo back since being demoted to Toro Rosso. His average finish of 10.50 is better than Kvyat’s (13.25) in this four-race span, and Kvyat had even been rumored as a possible replacement candidate for him at Red Bull Racing this season.

Kvyat’s return season to Formula 1 has been impressive in itself. Since Force India’s (now Racing Point’s) Sergio Perez finished in third place in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in April of 2018, no non-Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull Racing driver had finished on the podium before Kvyat finished in third in the German Grand Prix in July.

But with all things considered, Red Bull Racing would be smart to retain Albon.

He could certainly still use some improvements, but it is clear that he is making the necessary strides to do so already. He hasn’t finished outside of the expected top six since arriving at Red Bull Racing four races ago. In fact, he has outscored Verstappen 36 to 31 since his arrival, although other factors have been involved in Verstappen’s race lack of success.

Gasly, meanwhile, recorded just five top six finishes in 12 starts with the team, and it took him until his 10th start to record his fourth top six finish. He finished ahead of Verstappen only once, and that was when Verstappen had a podium finish robbed from him by late contact with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in the British Grand Prix.

Albon even tied his career-high finish with a fifth place effort in the Russian Grand Prix after he struggled throughout the weekend, crashed during the qualifying session and started the race from the pit lane at a track where he clearly wasn’t all that comfortable.

Who should Red Bull Racing sign to be Max Verstappen’s teammate in the 2020 Formula 1 season? Will they retain Alexander Albon, or will they bring back Pierre Gasly or Daniil Kvyat?