Crimson Bull group boss Laurent Mekies has confirmed that the identification of Max Verstappen’s teammate for subsequent 12 months will probably be introduced subsequent week.
There are nonetheless three seats up for grabs for 2026 after Alpine introduced a brand new contract for Franco Colapinto earlier this month.
There’s one seat at Crimson Bull — and two at Racing Bulls.
Yuki Tsunoda is the incumbent, having changed Liam Lawson after simply two races.
Nonetheless, like his predecessor, Tsunoda has struggled to constantly rating factors.
Whereas Tsunoda hasn’t all the time had parity by way of upgrades, the Japanese driver’s performances have been poor all through.
In consequence, it appears doubtless Tsunoda will probably be changed by Isack Hadjar, who’s extensively considered the rookie of the 12 months.
Mekies has revealed an announcement will happen after this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix.
“We’ll announce our line-up instantly after Qatar,” Mekies stated after the Las Vegas GP, through Nextgen Auto.
“Only one extra week of endurance.”
Racing Bulls in 2026
Crimson Bull may also determine on their driver line-up for his or her sister group — Racing Bulls.
Since being demoted again to RB, Lawson has slowly discovered his type once more.
Except for a number of clumsy incidents, Lawson has aided RB’s cost as much as sixth within the constructors’ championship.
With the brand new guidelines coming into play in 2026, RB will want a confirmed driver to steer the group.
Whereas Lawson is much less skilled than Tsunoda, the latter has been in F1 for 5 seasons.
Tsunoda hasn’t proved to be greater than a stable midfield driver, whereas Lawson was an in depth match after they had been teammates — with far much less expertise.
Lawson is about to stay at RB, presumably alongside Arvid Lindblad.
Lindblad is a part of the Crimson Bull junior programme and has impressed throughout his FP1 outings for the group.
