The 2025 Formula 1 grid is starting to take shape after Fernando Alonso made a final decision on his future for next year.
The two-time world champion will be staying at Aston Martin which means other pieces of the F1 driver market puzzle are falling into place.
Speaking on The Race Podcast, journalist Edd Straw believes midfield team RB are closing in on their line-up for next year.
Team principal Laurent Mekies will be pleased that the team have opened up a small gap over the likes of Haas after four races.
RB are in a tricky situation as the top five teams are all significantly quicker than them, meaning they’re now relying on reliability issues, accidents, or Lance Stroll having a tough weekend to score points.
The latter option occurred in Japan and handed Yuki Tsunoda a crucial 10-place finish at his home Grand Prix.
It’s becoming more and more likely that the Japanese driver will be handed a contract extension next year.
RB now look likely to partner Tsunoda with Liam Lawson in 2025 after his impressive cameo last year.
After scoring points in Singapore in 2023, it’s no wonder Ralf Schumacher described the 22-year-old as ‘incredible’ and it was a surprise to see him miss out on a drive this year.
RB trending towards Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson partnership in 2025
The dream for both current RB drivers at the start of the season was to earn a promotion to the sister Red Bull team.
However, Sergio Perez has performed well enough to make replacing him next year very tricky.
Not only that but while Yuki Tsunoda has been brilliant this season, he’s not under consideration for a promotion.
Daniel Ricciardo is in a much more difficult spot after a tough start to 2024.
He’s yet to score a point this season and despite a decent performance in qualifying in Japan, his race ended in the barrier before the end of the first lap.
If RB are going to retain one driver to partner with Liam Lawson next year, Tsunoda is the logical option.
He appears to be a driver on the rise right now, whereas Ricciardo hasn’t shown any signs of progression since replacing Nyck de Vries midway through last year.
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Liam Lawson set for 2025 drive regardless of teammate
Talking about RB’s potential pairing next year, Straw said: “RB’s trending to be [Yuki] Tsunoda and [Liam] Lawson next year I think most likely.”
Journalist Ben Anderson agreed and added: “Yeah, I would agree with that and that puts [Daniel] Ricciardo on the market.”
Liam Lawson was brilliant during the five races he took part in last year, especially when he was parachuted into Ricciardo’s car at very late notice in the Netherlands.
His performance in Singapore was the highlight, knocking out Max Verstappen in qualifying before securing his only Formula 1 points.
Will Buxton believes he’s ‘almost’ certainly going to be on the grid next year at RB and there’s even been a suggestion he could switch seats with Ricciardo mid-season.
That’s been denied by Lawson’s management but instead, he may have to be patient and wait until 2025 to partner with Tsunoda again at RB.
The post ‘Most likely’: F1 team now ‘trending’ towards 2025 line-up including 'incredible' 22-year-old – journalist appeared first on F1 Oversteer.