Parc Ferme: Red Bull’s second chair?

However, it could equally have gone to Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen for his flawless cruise from start to finish, George Russell for his illness-defying second place, or even Liam Lawson...

While Lawson may have regretted not converting his third-place qualifying position into a podium finish, he was impressive. For the latter part of the race, he defended his position from Yuki Tsunoda, holding him at bay to the end.

Ironic, since it was Tsunoda who unceremoniously replaced him after only two races at the beginning of the season. The Japanese Formula 1 driver now has ten grands prix under his belt in the premier seat, initially proving he was no more capable of driving the RB21 than the man he replaced.

He has only recently started to drag the car into the points despite his teammate’s frequent podium appearances. One can only speculate that his RB21 has been dumbed down to make it easier to drive, albeit suboptimal.

With Honda heading to Red Bull’s exit door at the end of the season, we can only speculate that Yuki will accompany them.

However, the question now looms as to who will fill the seat that is as much coveted as it is feared.

Isack Hadjar’s name is raised almost as often as it is dismissed with suggestions that it might ruin a promising career. This seems to make sense to all, including the young Frenchman.

Arvid Lindblad is another candidate who was mooted early on but now appears to have dropped back in the running order.

The young Brit reminds me of Kimi Antonelli: dominant in F4 and F3, then stalling in F2. This is hardly surprising since F2 is a different ball game requiring some additional race craft other than just windmilling through the grid.

Antonelli could have used another year in F2 and Lindblad probably needs the same. However, stepping up into Racing Bulls would be a softer F1 landing than Antonelli’s at Mercedes.

To date, Hadjar has been the focus of the junior team plaudits. However, Lawson has gradually rebuilt himself as the season progressed, increasingly keeping his teammate honest. The Baku race underlined this progress in bold type.

If Lawson continues his current trajectory, he deserves another shot at the big team. He is also the most logical option. The young Kiwi was green the last time around and was effectively made irrelevant.

However, his ability to rebuild himself demonstrates the kind of strength necessary to occupy that space again. This version of himself seems more rounded and stable.

Would he beat Max? Now, probably not. Could he be an effective wingman? Why not?