Racing Bulls Keep Alan Permane Through 2031, but Both 2027 Seats Are Still Open

The Faenza, Italy-based Racing Bulls team announced on Nov. 6 that team principal Alan Permane has signed a long-term extension that keeps him as team principal and Co-CEO Sporting through the end of 2031, according to Formula 1 (opens in a new tab). A day later, ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Permane said the team was in no hurry to name its 2027 drivers. Racing Bulls are the only team on the grid that has not confirmed either seat for next year.

Why Racing Bulls extended Permane

Permane joined the team as racing director in January 2024 and was promoted to team principal in July 2025, when Laurent Mekies left to run Red Bull Racing after Christian Horner's exit. Since then, the team took its first podium under the VCARB name at the 2025 Dutch Grand Prix and finished sixth in the 2025 Constructors' Championship, matching its previous best.

This year it has gone further. Racing Bulls sit fifth in the constructors' standings with 114 points after 20 rounds, 45 clear of Alpine, according to our 2026 F1 standings breakdown. Fifth would be the best finish in the team's history.

"I am immensely proud to be continuing this journey with VCARB," Permane said. "We have the right people, the right culture and a clear sense of where we want to go, and I am excited to keep pushing together."

Oliver Mintzlaff, Red Bull's CEO of Corporate Projects and Investments, said the deal gives the team "stability and continuity." He added, "Alan is doing a tremendous job, and the progress the team has made is a direct reflection of his experience, commitment and competitive mindset."

Permane has more than three decades in F1, including 34 years with the Enstone team, now Alpine, where he worked as a race engineer, chief race engineer and sporting director. He was part of the title campaigns of Michael Schumacher in 1994 and 1995 and Fernando Alonso in 2005 and 2006.

Three drivers, two seats

Three drivers are in the running for the 2027 seats, according to Formula 1 (opens in a new tab).

Liam Lawson came into the Brazil weekend ninth in the drivers' standings with 83 points, the best of the drivers outside the four top teams and 42 points clear of Pierre Gasly. He also made three appearances for Red Bull Racing this season. Lawson started from the pit lane in Mexico City after being disqualified from qualifying and still finished seventh, as covered in our Mexico City Grand Prix recap. He was classified seventh again in Sao Paulo after Charles Leclerc's post-race penalty, as detailed in our wet Sao Paulo Grand Prix report.

Arvid Lindblad, the rookie who was promoted to a Racing Bulls race seat for 2026, was 11th in the standings before Brazil, 45 points behind Lawson, with 11 points finishes in Grands Prix.

The third candidate is Nikola Tsolov, a Red Bull junior from Bulgaria who has won a race in his first Formula 2 season and is second in the F2 standings. Tsolov made his F1 debut in the first practice session in Mexico City and finished 0.126 seconds slower than Lindblad in the same car.

"We're trying to apply a little bit of science"

Permane acknowledged that Red Bull's driver program has faced criticism for quick calls on young drivers.

"I think, and I don't want to be critical of it, but I think you guys are critical of it, [that] maybe sometimes drivers haven't been able to have enough time to settle or maybe some snap decisions have been made," Permane said. "We're trying to apply a little bit of science and that takes some time. We are looking at everything and studying, analysing and time is on our side."

He said speed comes first but experience matters, too. "We are here to bring young talent through so we have to keep an eye on that and that doesn't necessarily mean that we just keep churning young talent through the car," he said. "We need to have maybe some experience as well to measure that talent against."

Permane said the team will announce its decision "in the coming weeks."

Lawson: "I don't know what else they want me to do"

Before the Sao Paulo weekend, Lawson was asked whether his recent results, including seventh places at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, Singapore and Mexico City, should secure his seat, according to Formula 1 (opens in a new tab).

"I don't know," he said. "We've had a really strong year and we're in a good position. We're fighting Alpine. We're pulling away from Alpine every weekend. I don't know what else they want me to do, but yeah, it's just one of those things at the moment."

With most of the grid settled, he admitted a late decision leaves few options. "When something like this is pushed all the way to the end, you're left with not really any options, so it's not the easiest situation," he said. "Obviously, I want to be racing in F1."

Elsewhere in the 2027 market, Haas has already moved Rafael Câmara into Esteban Ocon's seat ahead of schedule.

Sources: Formula 1. More Formula 1 coverage on Undrafted.

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