A new teammate for Max Verstappen. Associated with Sergio Perez since 2021, the Dutch driver will welcome Liam Lawson in 2025. The New Zealander, former Formula 2 driver with Carlin, therefore obtains a promotion after having completed the last six Grand Prix of the season with Racing Bulls, replacing Daniel Ricciardo. In this game of musical chairs, one loser is easily identifiable: Yuki Tsunoda.
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Tsunoda still excluded from Red Bull
The Japanese, Racing Bulls driver since 2021 (formerly AlphaTauri), will therefore compete for a fifth season in a row with the Faenza team. However, the Japanese driver has made a lot of progress in 2024. Often criticized for his numerous crashes and his aggressiveness on the radio, Yuki Tsunoda has, this season, shown a certain calm, preferring to concentrate on his speed. With nine finishes in the points and 30 points in total, the Japanese fully contributed to Racing Bulls' good season, a season that it finished in eighth place with 46 points (it also finished eighth in 2023 but with only 25 points). Despite everything, he was not chosen by Red Bull for 2025. Helmut Marko, the consultant within the Milton Keynes structure, spoke about the reasons for choosing Lawson over Tsunoda.
“In terms of speed, Tsunoda is definitely the faster of the two at the moment, but he lacks the necessary consistency and continues to make mistakes”admitted the Austrian. Red Bull criticizes the Japanese for his numerous mood swings which could impact the morale of the Austrian team. A character that has followed him again this season.
An often criticized composure
From the opening round, the Japanese first took to the radio to talk about his incomprehension after the team asked him to let his teammate Daniel Ricciardo pass. After the race, he did not try to hide his frustration and overtook the Australian at turn 8 on the deceleration lap. However, he locked his wheels, pulled straight and almost made contact with his teammate while returning to the track. At the Austrian Grand Prix, he was fined $40,000 due to offensive language used on the radio during qualifying.
Behaviors that worried Red Bull despite better performances this season. “His angry outbursts have improved significantly, but remain a problem. He's losing control.”estimated Helmut Marko. The Austrian also said Red Bull feared Tsunoda's reaction to the challenge of going up against Verstappen. “We think it would pose significant emotional challenges for Tsunoda if he realized, alongside Max, that he couldn't beat him, or perhaps even get close to him, and things weren't going his way. as he had imagined. »
Conversely, the Austrian team considers Liam Lawson mentally better, a quality he will need to keep with him when he faces the four-time world champion next season. “He has the mental strength to race alongside Verstappen and accept that he will not be able to challenge the Dutchman. »
For Tsunoda, a future in F1 elsewhere than in the Red Bull clan?
In 2025, Red Bull will therefore modify its two driver duos. If Lawson will necessarily be closely monitored, this will also be the case for Tsunoda. The Japanese will have the Frenchman Isack Hadjar as a teammate. The Frenchman, second in the F2 championship this year, wants to fully play his card and even already seems to be on the pace of the Japanese if we are to believe the times set by the two drivers during post-season testing in Abu Dhabi.
Tsunoda's place is therefore in danger within Red Bull. A position that the Japanese driver seems to accept more and more. For him, it might be time to change sides at the risk of seeing all the doors of the other stables close in front of him.
