Yuki Tsunoda out of Red Bull: Who should be Verstappen's teammate?

Yuki Tsunoda will not return to Red Bull Racing after the current season, as GPblog was able to report this Tuesday after talks with various sources. The dilemma Helmut Marko faces now is: Who will accompany Max Verstappen in 2026?

For Tsunoda, the current season marks the end of a brief adventure at Red Bull Racing, for which he has not yet completed a full season. While his managers are trying to place him within the Aston Martin team, the Austrian outfit is already looking ahead.

Who will succeed Tsunoda in '26?

It is as yet unsure if Max Verstappen will stay on. But if he does, he will once again get a new teammate. At first glance, there are two logical candidates for this seat. First, there is Isack Hadjar, the rookie who is currently making a good impression at Racing Bulls. However, the question remains whether the Frenchman has the potential to grow into a Grand Prix winner or championship contender?

More expectations lie with Arvid Lindblad, the seventeen-year-old talent who has yet to make his Grand Prix debut. The Brit has been seen as ‘the new Verstappen’ for some time, among others by Helmut Marko.

It is ultimately the Austrian who must decide who will take the seat next to Verstappen, and Marko is known for not hesitating to put a potential top driver in Red Bull's car.

Will Isack Hadjar switch to Red Bull Racing?

After all, he did this before in 2016, when at the age of eighteen, he let Max Verstappen debut for his team in Spain. Could there be a similar argument for Lindblad? If anyone would dare to, it would be Helmut Marko.

Should Verstappen leave Red Bull Racing, the situation would undoubtedly change. In that case, a new driver (George Russell?) might come from outside the team's talent pool, or Red Bull might then choose to place both Hadjar and Lindblad on the team.