Marko confirms internal shakeup: New driver for Red Bull and Racing Bulls
Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls have a new reserve driver. External advisor Helmut Marko confirms that Ayumu Iwasa has to welcome competition in the reserve driver role.
It's not a big surprise: Arvid Lindblad can henceforth call himself the reserve driver of both Red Bull teams, Marko reveals in Kronen Zeitung. This option has been available since last Tuesday, the moment the FIA made an exception for the seventeen-year-old Lindblad, giving him a super license despite not meeting the age limit.
According to Marko, it's a positive sign that another driver from the Red Bull Junior Team can progress to Formula 1. “Hadjar is another example. With Lindblad, we are developing someone who is also very strong mentally.”
“Now we have two reserve drivers – previously Iwasa was the only one, and he also has races in Japan that overlap with Formula 1,” says Marko.
Racing Bulls faces a dilemma
So, if Max Verstappen gets a ban during one of the upcoming Grand Prix, Red Bull has the choice between two drivers to fill the gap.
In such a case, the plan would be for Liam Lawson or Isack Hadjar to temporarily move from Racing Bulls to Red Bull Racing, and Iwasa or Lindblad to step in at RB. However, this would indeed put Racing Bulls in a difficult position.
A maximum of four drivers per team are allowed to participate in a race during a F1 season. Therefore, it is not possible to, for example, to use Iwasa and then Lindblad at a later time.
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