Formula 1: 5 other teams poised for driver lineup changes in 2025

2. RB

Despite having been the sister team of Red Bull for quite some time, RB (formerly AlphaTauri) have not lived up to the demanding performance expectations. With the team opting for a midseason driver switch in 2023, it spoke to RB’s cutthroat standard.

Now RB could be poised for another driver lineup change. Both Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo have contracts set to expire at the end of the 2024 season.

Tsunoda’s prospects going forward look quite good, as the Japanese driver has taken another step forward this season. Since he arrived in 2021, he has improved nicely. Additionally, the 23-year-old has earned all of RB’s points so far in 2024 and has emerged as the team’s lead driver.

As for Ricciardo, he has struggled this season, which was not what many people expected from him after he replaced Nyck de Vries in 2023.

The Australian’s name has been in consideration for that second Red Bull seat ever since he took the third driver position for the team in early 2023, but those odds have been decreasing, as the 34-year-old is one of seven drivers yet to score a point this season.

Red Bull, Christian Horner, and Helmut Marko will be monitoring the progress of both drivers closely for the rest of 2024. What their vision is for RB going forward will depend largely on their potential for success in 2025 with the car they are developing.