P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Red Bull’s F1 driver line-up is changing yet again for 2026 and there’s a lot at stake – but its decisions will have to backfire spectacularly to end up among its worst
Red Bull’s Formula 1 driver line-up for 2026 is changing once again, facing high stakes, but it would take a great backfire for these decisions to rank among Red Bull’s worst. One of their harshest actions was the mid-season debut of Arvid Lindblad without any testing, showcasing a trend of throwing rookies into F1. In a previous instance, Red Bull substituted Sebastien Bourdais for the inexperienced Jaime Alguersuari midway through the season, leading to Alguersuari becoming F1’s youngest driver without proper testing. Despite Alguersuari’s decent performance, he was dropped after two full seasons, marking the early end of his career. Another controversial move was letting go of Scott Speed mid-season in 2007, a decision influenced by Speed’s strained relationship with the team bosses and his lackluster performance in F1 without scoring any points. Red Bull also briefly gave up on Alex Albon, pulling him out of Formula E to replace Pierre Gasly in the senior team in 2019, eventually replacing Albon after just one-and-a-half seasons due to performance concerns amidst a challenging COVID-19 season.
