Did Ollie Bearman and Franco Colapinto sway Red Bull’s F1 driver shuffle?

While explaining why Daniel Ricciardo was dropped in favour of Liam Lawson for the remainder of the 2024 F1 season, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner made an intriguing comparison.

22-year-old Lawson will get the chance to stake a claim for a 2025 seat with Red Bull’s sister team RB - and potentially the senior team - over the final six races of the campaign, having replaced the underperforming Ricciardo.

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast to outline Red Bull’s decision-making process, Horner made a point of highlighting the performances of youngsters Oliver Bearman and Franco Colapinto, who have impressed during their respective stand-in appearances for Ferrari/Haas and Williams.

Horner’s comments indicate that the jobs done by F2's Bearman, who will race full-time for Haas next season, and Colapinto, have somewhat swayed Red Bull’s thinking amid their driver dilemma.

“Well there’s been a few surprises,” Horner explained.

“I find it so hard to read form in Formula 2 these days because when you look at the job Oliver Bearman has done when he jumped in the Ferrari at one of the toughest tracks on the calendar in Saudi, he looked like a veteran.

“Then again having done so with a tough teammate in Nico Hulkenberg more recently.

“Colapinto has been a complete surprise because he was largely unnoticed in F2. Nobody was even talking about him. He jumps in that Williams in the couple of races he’s done and he’s been exceptional. He’s been really, really impressive.

“So it’s really difficult to tell. Does that mean that Isack Hadjar, who was beating all of them, is another step on? Until we give these guys a chance, we won’t know.”

Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar lies second in the F2 championship, ahead of both Colapinto and Bearman. He has amassed four victories this season, more than any other driver in F1's direct feeder series. 

Hadjar has already been named Red Bull’s official reserve driver for 2025 but the 20-year-old Frenchmen could yet get a chance to race for RB next season should Lawson either fail to grab his opportunity, or impress Red Bull so much that they swap him in for Sergio Perez.

“The young guys, they get in, they’re hungry, and they just drive the wheels off it,” Horner added.

“That’s what we’re seeing with all these juniors who are coming in at the moment, they’re well prepared, they race well, they understand how to conserve the tyres well.

“Bearman, Colapinto and the like have done a super job.”