Red Bull has just announced the signing of Liam Lawson, following the departure of Sergio Perez from the team.

Ever since the shock transfer of Daniel Ricciardo to Renault in 2019, the Red Bull family seemed to have trouble with its driver lineup. Neither Pierre Gasly nor Alex Albon fared well as Max Verstappen’s teammate. Things got better with Checo’s arrival in 2021. But the partnership fell apart badly when the car was no longer dominant this year.

With Perez out of the picture, the question is who’s next in line. Yuki Tsunoda has been with the junior team since 2021. Yet, the higher-ups didn’t show signs of confidence in the Japanese driver.

Nyck de Vries didn’t last a whole year with VCARB since he was replaced by Ricciardo midseason. And even the veteran driver was unceremoniously dropped during this year’s Singapore Grand Prix to make way for Lawson.

Driving for Red Bull must sound exciting for a young driver like Liam. But the reality is that he will be up against one of the most dominant drivers—in a not-so-dominant car—for his first full F1 season.

Will he sink or swim? We’ll have to tune in next year to find out.