Karun Chandhok: Red Bull’s hot seat - the candidates for F1 drive

As we march into the final third of the 2025 Formula 1 season, there are some fascinating storylines unfolding which will have an impact not just on this year but also the future for the drivers and their teams. Every season presents a new opportunity for drivers to flex their muscles and either establish themselves as the top dog with their current team or make themselves seem appealing for other teams on the hunt for a change.

The McLaren duo are not just locked into the current team for the long-term future but are also locking horns in their quest for a maiden world championship. Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have driven very well this year, while playing nicely as team-mates, and there would be absolutely no reason for Zak Brown and Andrea Stella to look elsewhere for a driver. However I am fascinated to see what happens after this season because irrespective of the order, one driver is going to end up with the No1 on their car for 2026 and the other one will have to find a way to bounce back from a winter of disappointment and stare at the No2 on their car as a constant reminder next year.

As much as winning a world championship must do a world of good for a driver’s confidence, being on the losing end of that battle to your team-mate can be a massive psychological blow. Think back to 2010 when Sebastian Vettel snuck ahead of Mark Webber at the final round in Abu Dhabi. After being pretty equal throughout 2010, Vettel then roared ahead and claimed the next three titles in a row, clearly established as the number one driver in the team.

I’m intrigued to see how this will play out with Oscar and Lando – the former seems utterly unmoved and immune to any form of external pressure while the latter has been very impressive in the way he’s bounced back after some tricky weekends with strong drives particularly in races like Austria and Budapest.

The George Russell contract story has been a strange one. George has been driving incredibly well and has completely overshadowed the incoming golden child Kimi Antonelli all season long. As I write this, it was only in Miami qualifying that Antonelli had the upper hand over Russell, yet all the talk was around whether Max Verstappen would be lured over to replace the Brit. Any driver in Russell’s position would feel a bit hard done by, I think.

Having clearly beaten Lewis Hamilton last season as well, George is in the form of his life and since the summer break, there’s this weird dance of Mercedes knowing it needs George, George has nowhere else to go but Mercedes, yet I wonder if this process has been bruising for the relationship despite all the public comments saying it’s all hunky-dory.

“The big seat in play for 2026 is the Red Bull one alongside Max ”

The other big seat in play of course is the Red Bull one alongside Max. All signs seem to indicate that Isack Hadjar will be there next year and it’s a question of whether it happens before the end of 2025. Personally, I think that there is absolutely no benefit for anyone in doing that. Red Bull isn’t fighting for the constructors’ title and at the moment Hadjar’s confidence is sky-high. He’s still a rookie and dropping him in alongside Max at a time when clearly that seat is a poisoned chalice could damage that confidence and send him into the winter on a low. The cars in 2026 will be very different and the style of driving and racing will be different so why bother dropping him into a situation for just a few races when there is everything to lose and very little to gain in terms of his mental preparation for 2026?

If they promote Hadjar, I hope that Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson get another go at Racing Bulls. Arvid Lindblad has shown a lot of speed in Formula 2 after an excellent karting and junior career but fast-tracking him into an F1 seat risks burning him out too soon. In recent years, there seems to be a trend of teams being in a rush to promote their young drivers whereas I think that what McLaren did with Hamilton in the early 2000s, by giving him the time and experience to develop and win at every level, is not a bad thing. Drivers are able to race into their early forties now so if a young driver like Lindblad did another season of F2 and got to F1 for 2027 better-prepared, he could still have a 20-year career. It worked out well for Lewis!