The rest of the 2024 season is shaping up to be a crucial head-to-head battle to decide who will join Max Verstappen at Red Bull Racing for the 2025 season.
Following the Singapore Grand Prix, Red Bull opted to activate a break clause in Daniel Ricciardo's contract with the junior team RB, making way for Liam Lawson to step in.
The prevailing view is that with Yuki Tsunoda already confirmed for 2025, Red Bull is locking in its lineup for next year earlier than usual.
However, Dr. Helmut Marko has admitted that for 2025, Verstappen will "ideally" have a "young driver" as his teammate rather than Sergio Perez.
"The important thing is to keep Verstappen," Marko told ORF Tirol, "ideally with a young driver as a teammate from our junior program."
This puts Perez in direct competition with the emerging talent Lawson and the more established Tsunoda for the seat next to Verstappen in the senior Red Bull team.
"I don't know how many races Lawson was faster than Yuki in last year, so we decided that now is the time to compare him with Yuki," Marko confirmed.
"We want to see who is faster between the two."
If either Lawson or Tsunoda gets the nod for a promotion to Red Bull Racing, it could open up a spot at the junior team for Isack Hadjar.
Marko admitted he "feels" he already has an idea of what the Red Bull Racing and junior RB team lineups will look like for 2025. "But let's wait and see," said the 81-year-old Austrian.
"Everyone is noticing that Yuki has improved a lot. He has better control of his emotions now. He was losing speed with his tirades, and that was what worried me the most. But that's in the past now. He's fast and consistent everywhere," Marko added about the 24-year-old Japanese driver.
"Young drivers are back in fashion," said Marko. "Our approach to working with young drivers is now being followed at Mercedes with (Kimi) Antonelli, at Haas with (Oliver) Bearman, and I hope Franco Colapinto will also get a seat, because he has had three great races."
