Formula 1: 5 possible Red Bull drivers for 2021
By Asher Fair
Only Max Verstappen is under contract with Red Bull for the 2021 Formula 1 season. Here are five possible teammates for him next year.
Max Verstappen signed a multi-year extension with Red Bull Racing that runs through the 2023 Formula 1 season more than two months prior to the initial start date of the 2020 season.
But in the 10-plus months that have followed, while multiple teams have confirmed drivers for their 2021 driver lineup and there are now 14 of 20 seats filled, Red Bull have not yet confirmed Verstappen’s teammate for next year. The team have stated that their goal is to make that decision prior to this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix at Intercity Istanbul Park.
Here are five possible options.
Possible 2021 Red Bull drivers: #1 – Alexander Albon
Alexander Albon is in his second overall season and first full season competing for Red Bull after replacing Pierre Gasly following 12 of the 21 races on last year’s schedule.
He has shown potential, having lost two potential podium finishes, one of which a possible win, due to late contact with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton that was out of his control, and he secured Red Bull’s first podium finish for a driver other than Verstappen since Daniel Ricciardo’s Monaco Grand Prix victory at Circuit de Monaco in May of 2018 with his third place finish in the Tuscan Grand Prix at Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello.
However, as a whole, he has underperformed, and as the team proved with Gasly’s demotion, they do not have long-term patience for that lack of performance.
The top three in the driver standings are Mercedes teammates Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas along with Verstappen. The real battle is for fourth place, and despite driving for the second quickest team on the grid, Albon is nowhere near fourth through 13 of the season’s 17 races, and that is costing the Milton Keynes-based team.