‘Great curveball’ F1 2025 suggestion for Red Bull catches Helmut Marko’s attention

Helmut Marko has called Franco Colapinto a driver for the ‘future’

As Red Bull contemplate what comes next after Daniel Ricciardo’s VCARB exit, it has been suggested Franco Colapinto would be a “very, very strong candidate” should Liam Lawson step up to the senior team.

Colapinto was a surprise call-up when Williams opted to promote their junior driver having finally made the call to drop Logan Sargeant ahead of the Italian Grand Prix.

Franco Colapinto would be a ‘great curveball’ for a Red Bull seat

The Argentinian was 12th on debut before going on to score points at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix where he brought his FW46 home in eighth place.

He did what Sargeant had failed to do this season by scoring points, his four in only his second F1 appearance beating the one Sargeant managed in his 36 starts.

Colapinto then missed out on a point in Singapore where he was P11.

For Colapinto, his nine races with Williams are his only confirmed F1 outings as Williams have already confirmed their F1 2025 line-up of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz.

But that doesn’t mean he won’t be on the grid next season with a rival team.

“Would Franco be a good fit for Red Bull?” Channel 10 Australia’s Sam Power asked on the F1 Nation podcast. “If Christian is going out and saying, ‘Hey, I’d consider George Russell’, why also wouldn’t you look at Franco in many ways?

“Because you’ve got a driver who’s done an unbelievable job in terms of deputising, much in the same way that Liam Lawson did.

“He opens up a new demographic, a new market in Argentina, which we haven’t had in Formula 1 for a long time.

“And so in which case, if you really wanted to be ultra looking at what am I going to do for the future, he’s a very, very strong candidate.”

“That is a great curveball to throw,” replied F1 journalist Lawrence Barretto. “Because let’s talk about Helmut Marko not bringing in Nick de Vries and not being so worried about going outside the pool, but bringing young talent in. Why not do that?

“Why not if Liam Lawson is coming in and then Liam Lawson is good enough to step up to Red Bull. You need to fill a seat.

“Hadjar is doing a great job in F2, but Helmut Marko is not afraid of making the tough decisions, is he?

“And I think he will not want to miss out on a talent like Colapinto. Who knows?”

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Helmut Marko: Franco Colapinto is ‘definitely someone for the future’

Although talk of Colapinto leaving Williams for the Red Bull family is pure speculation, Red Bull are looking at their options for the future having axed Ricciardo from VCARB in favour of Lawson.

On top of that there’s also a rumour doing the rounds that Sergio Perez could announce his retirement at next month’s Mexican Grand Prix, leaving Red Bull two drivers short for the F1 f1 championship.

Asked if he’d consider Colapinto, Marko told Motorsport-Total: “I think he has a long-term contract with Williams and he is definitely someone for the future. What he showed in Baku and Singapore was very, very good.

“We see with Colapinto a relatively inexperienced and not very successful guy in the junior series, although it must be said that he never had the top teams, but what an incredible performance he is having now.

“But as I said, I used it as an example. You can also cite the case of [Oliver] Bearman, where Formula 2 juniors have the potential to perform in Formula 1, where you couldn’t always rely only on drivers who already had five or three years of experience, as you did in the past.”

For now Red Bull are backing their own junior drivers with Lawson in the VCARB for the final six races while Isack Hadjar will be the team’s official reserve until the end of the season.

“And now let’s see what our juniors or even a Yuki Tsunoda can do. He can also be called a junior. But how does he compare to Lawson?”

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