It is officially 2025 and the upcoming Formula One season is in the air. Winter break has brought us lots of interesting news so far, especially from Milton Keynes, regarding Red Bull.
All season long there were whispers of Sergio “Checo” Perez’s inevitable departure, but nothing had really come of it, and with the firing of Daniel Ricciardo, everyone was sure it was a done deal. He was supposed to replace Perez when he left, and without him, there was no one who they knew could at minimum, match, or beat his results. So it only made sense to keep Sergio, and his money too. But then over winter break, the news came out. Checo would not be racing for the team in 2025 and would be replaced by their junior driver Liam Lawson.
This does not seem inflammatory from an outsider's perspective, but there is more to this story. Red Bull is the only team to own two teams on the grid, their other being Visa-Cashapp-RB, or VCARB for short. This team is considered their junior team and is sort of an incubator for drivers who Red Bull plans on taking advantage of in the future. For the last four years, one of these seats on this junior team has been occupied by the Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda, while the other car has been a revolving door of failed investments and excuses. But Yuki has remained, and was under the impression, as the rest of us were, that he was valued until they promoted Liam Lawson to the primary team. A driver who has officially been a driver for VCARB for all of six races in 2024.
Nobody honestly knows what is coming next. With Red Bull’s Max Verstappen expecting his first child in 2025, their driver issues, and most recently losing their largest sponsor, their fans are fleeing. Part of Formula One is staying relevant, and losing your dominance, or if fans even think you might, you lose a lot of support very quickly, and they have already burned their fans quite a few times. By repeatedly firing fan favorites, bashing other teams in the press, and crying ‘cheater’ every time another team beats them, they have been getting a lot of dirty looks in the paddock. Of course, they still have their devoted fans, who will defend them no matter what, but I have a prediction. I think that in 2025, Mclaren will be the dominant team, and not only that, but I believe most of the new fans will choose Mclaren as their favorite.