Horner cites Mercedes’ Russell as potential Red Bull target as he says team not afraid to ‘go out of the pool’ in future

Christian Horner has faced another round of questions over the drivers Red Bull and sister team RB might field in the future, with the situation coming under the spotlight again at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Ahead of the event, rumours swirled about Daniel Ricciardo’s chances of keeping his RB seat for 2025 – including talk that the Australian is even at risk of being replaced by reserve driver Liam Lawson this season.
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Between the on-track action at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, Red Bull team boss Horner shared the latest on Ricciardo’s future – and the company’s thinking when it comes to the rest of their seats – in an interview with Sky Sports F1.
Plainly asked if Singapore will mark Ricciardo’s last race for RB in 2024, Horner began: “Well, look, these things are under constant review. There is obviously a much bigger picture other than just Daniel as we continue to look at all of our options as we move forward.
“Now there’s a natural break coming with effectively almost a month’s gap to the next race, so it’s only natural that you’ll take stock and consider all of those options for the final part of the year.”
Horner was then pushed on the long list of drivers dropped from Red Bull’s programme over the years, including current Williams and Alpine racers Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly, and whether some should have been retained.
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“We’ve given a great opportunity to so many youngsters over the period of time,” he said, with multiple world champions Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen the most successful examples.
“The Red Bull system does demand results and demand performance. Of course, Max is delivering. Checo [Sergio Perez] has been underdelivering this year. Last year, he did a good job, or good enough job to finish second in the [drivers’] championship and [for Red Bull to] be constructors’ champions.
“We’re having to look further down the road. We’ve got some great talent. We’ve got Liam Lawson on the bench. We’re not quite sure, looking at the likes of [Franco] Colapinto and [Ollie] Bearman and [Kimi] Antonelli, is he at that level? Only time will tell.
“We’ve got Isack Hadjar in F2 who’s been until recently leading that championship. We’ve got a very exciting young talent, that I’m particularly excited about, in F3, Arvid Lindblad. So, we’ve got depth in our junior programme, and that’s why there’s a natural point in time.”
“We’ve got a gap now, but we just want to take time to consider, ‘What do those options look like for the future?’
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Horner then hinted that Mercedes driver Russell – set to be paired with Kimi Antonelli in 2025 – might be on his long list of drivers, saying: “Look, we’re not afraid to go out of the pool. George Russell is out of contract at the end of next year. It would be foolish not to take that into consideration. There are other drivers, talented drivers, that will be out of contract as well.”
Horner’s comments come following Mercedes boss Toto Wolff’s public pursuit of Verstappen, with the Austrian stating that he “would love” to have the Dutchman at the Silver Arrows before settling on protégé Antonelli as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement for 2025.