Who should Red Bull choose to partner Verstappen in 2020?

When Red Bull announced it was promoting Alex Albon into its top team, it said it was doing so because it was "in the unique position of having four talented Formula 1 drivers under contract who can be rotated". It already had knowledge of how Pierre Gasly fared alongside Max Verstappen and how Daniil Kvyat had got on at Red Bull Racing in 2015 and some of '16. The missing piece in its data bank was what Albon would do with that chance, so with nothing to lose it decided to give that option a go. So, in theory, taking that statement at face value, the door is open for any of Albon, Gasly or Kvyat to end up at Red Bull Racing in 2020. Which of them should it choose? Or should it actually look elsewhere? Five of our writers have their say: Alex Albon Deserves a proper shot Alexander Albon, Toro Rosso STR14 Photo by: Mark Sutton / Sutton Images Given he's yet to have his first race in Red Bull's main team, this pitch has to carry the caveat that it assumes he at least does a solid job in the second half of the season. And Albon likely will, for despite being raw he's proved with Toro Rosso that he's an adaptable driver as he's refined his style to get the best out of the car. He's also shown impressive mental robustness, a quality he needs to make the best of being put alongside Verstappen. Now that Red Bull has opted to promote Albon so early, it must let him make good on the promise he's shown. A mid-season change is never easy and as Gasly has discovered to his cost, a move even to a sister team can require a change in approach. Fortunately for Albon, his default smooth style should be compatible with the Red Bull RB15 and he has proved already this year that he's capable of learning fast. Continuity is essential for Red Bull. It already has its gold standard driver in Verstappen, so what it requires from the second driver is consistency, an ability to work well with the lead driver and regular points. That means the expectations on Albon, certainly in the half-season to come, won't be sky-high. Provided he can avoid putting too much pressure on himself, which is the main pitfall, he can establish himself as that wingman. Of the drivers already on Red Bull's books, Albon is the one who could go into 2020 untainted by previous experiences and with the confidence of the team behind him, making him the ideal candidate for a smooth transition into next season. That will also prevent the potential disruption of bringing in an outsider. Given there's a realistic chance of the Red Bull-Honda package being a title challenger next year, Albon is exactly what the team needs. Edd Straw Pierre Gasly Written off too soon Pierre Gasly, Red Bull Racing signs autographs Photo by: Andrew Hone / LAT Images Gasly's return to Red Bull's main team would hinge on two necessary conditions: 1) he has to thoroughly outperform Kvyat at Toro Rosso over the remainder of 2019; 2) Albon has to, on average, be as far back from Verstappen as Gasly was. Both of these are admittedly distinctly long shots, given that Kvyat's had much more time to get comfortable with the STR14 and that Gasly seemed particularly uncomfortable with the Red Bull - but if the two conditions are met, the energy drink giant should absolutely take another punt on the Frenchman. Gasly's Red Bull ties have seemed a marriage of convenience at many a point in the past five years, but there was no convenience to be found in his terrible start to 2019. You could argue whether or not he's enjoyed the full backing of everyone in the team, but you certainly can't argue that the results were anywhere near acceptable, even if a seeming lack of confidence in traffic made his pace seem much worse than it actually was. Thing is though, Gasly has had rough patches before - that's how the near three-year winless streak in the middle of his junior campaign came about. And yet, whether it be Formula Renault 2.0, GP2 or Super Formula, he always cracked it sooner or later - and when he gets into a comfortable spot, he is a fantastically fast racing driver. That extraordinary fourth for Toro Rosso right at the start of its Honda era in Bahrain in 2018 is an example of this that gets brought up the most, but it is far from the only one. Giving him another shot at finding that sweet spot with Red Bull has a much bigger upside than the alternatives, whether they be stop-gap solution or drivers who are less prepared. Valentin Khorounzhiy Daniil Kvyat Second chances pay off Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso Photo by: Mark Sutton / Sutton Images Rushed from junior racing into F1 too abruptly, elevated from a midfield team to the top table too soon as well, then demoted when he'd barely settled and finally sacked in fairly humiliating fashion after a brief reprieve to stand in for his own replacement... The surprise isn't that Red Bull/Toro Rosso gave Kvyat another chance for the 2019 season, it's that he even answered his former employer's phone call. But Kvyat shouldn't get the 2020 Red Bull Racing seat as a guilt-assuaging gesture. He should get it because he's the best prepared of the in-house options and because he's emphatically proved he has the resilience to cope at the top of F1. The turnaround from the painfully broken figure Kvyat was in mid-2017 to the man stood on the German Grand Prix podium last month is a heartwarming one. That Hockenheim drive also showed that the matured Kvyat knows how to make the most of a race of opportunities - something Gasly had consistently failed to do. Red Bull doesn't actually need - or surely want - someone who can rival Verstappen's pace in the second car next year, but Kvyat would be quick enough to keep him on his toes as Daniel Ricciardo did (not that Verstappen needs intra-team pressure as motivation, but still). He's the safe-but-quick pair of hands option, and the tough enough to handle life alongside Verstappen option, and that's what Red Bull has to choose in order to go head to head with Mercedes next year. Matt Beer Nico Hulkenberg The 'Bottas option' Nico Hulkenberg, Renault F1 Team Photo by: Jerry Andre / Sutton Images Red Bull has staunchly stuck to the ideal that it promotes from within since it partnered David Coulthard with Mark Webber more than a decade ago. Yet re-signing Albon and Kvyat for 2019 is clear evidence that it is not limiting itself to drivers on its (current) junior roster. With that in mind, and if Albon/Kvyat/Gasly only present second-tier options for 2020, Red Bull would be wise to consider assessing alternatives outside the family. Nico Hulkenberg is the pick of those options. While he is performing slightly below the standard of known Red Bull quantity Ricciardo at the Renault works team this season, that is still a high level. Barring an almighty failure to adjust, Hulkenberg would most likely fall into a very nice performance window: much better than Gasly, but probably not quick enough to disrupt Verstappen. In essence, he could perform the role Valtteri Bottas has slipped into at Mercedes. Hulkenberg's relationship with Renault has cooled, and he is out of contract anyway after this season. So there is an opportunity here for Red Bull to swoop for a driver who ticks every box. He's experienced, but has never run at the front in F1. That means he still represents a risk to Red Bull, and Red Bull represents a career-changing move to him - both of which fit nicely with Red Bull's ethos. One small thing: Red Bull and Renault have a contentious history. Another layer added last year when Renault pulled out all the stops to sign Ricciardo from Red Bull for an eye-watering fee. This is unlikely to be a big factor in any decision, but it would probably be an amusing benefit to the Red Bull powers-that-be to take a driver Renault failed to put on the podium, and turn him into a race winner. Scott Mitchell Jean-Eric Vergne / Sebastien Buemi Formula E's ex-Red Bull stars Jean-Eric Vergne, Techeetah, talks with Sébastien Buemi, Renault e.Dams Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images When it comes to Verstappen's 2020 team-mate, Red Bull could do a lot worse than making a similar call to the one that earned Brendon Hartley a Toro Rosso drive in '18: revisit a driver it has previously cast-off. At the top of the list, which is pretty lengthy, have to be a pair of ABB FIA Formula E stars - Jean-Eric Vergne and Sebastien Buemi. Both can feel aggrieved to have been jettisoned from the Red Bull F1 programme in 2014 and '11 respectively, but both must credit the company with getting them into grand prix racing in the first place and admit they just didn't quite make the Sebastian Vettel/Daniel Ricciardo grade at the time. Now though, they're older, wiser and winning seriously impressive championships elsewhere within motorsport. Vergne is a double FE champion who has confronted the issues that blighted his career at the end of his Toro Rosso tenure and can deliver a serious turn of speed. Buemi is now a double World Endurance champion and a double Le Mans winner, who still has close ties to Red Bull and is its current F1 reserve driver. Yes, a Red Bull 2020 seat is a step above the Toro Rosso ride granted to Hartley - who was also unlucky not to keep that for this season and therefore have himself in the '20 frame at the senior squad. But both Vergne and Buemi are seasoned professionals now, and while they may still have the occasional problem keeping cool heads (their respective high-profile radio messages at the 2019 FE events in New York and Mexico City demonstrate this), they would both make suitable partners for Verstappen. Both drivers are capable of delivering F1 victories and opting for one of them would give Albon more time to gain experience at Toro Rosso before making a lasting and successful step-up to Red Bull in the future. Alex Kalinauckas

Series	Formula 1
Drivers	Pierre Gasly , Daniil Kvyat Shop Now , Sébastien Buemi , Jean-Eric Vergne , Nico Hulkenberg Shop Now , Alex Albon
Teams	Red Bull Racing Shop Now

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Who should Red Bull choose to partner Verstappen in 2020?

A longer chance for Albon, another go for Kvyat or a reprieve for Gasly - or go outside Red Bull's books and look elsewhere in F1, or beyond? Five of our writers give their suggestions for Red Bull's second 2020 driver.

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