Yuki Tsunoda ‘deserved’ a promotion to Red Bull Racing’s senior F1 group, however misplaced out to Liam Lawson in just a few key areas, says Dr. Helmut Marko. This is how the group Red Bull group advisor described the state of affairs when rookie Liam Lawson (22) beat out the way more skilled Tsunoda to switch Sergio Perez for 2025.

Marko says the Japanese driver took the information ‘relatively well’. “He is in Japan right now and I spoke to him on the phone,” Marko advised F1-insider. “I told him to keep pushing hard with the Racing Bulls (RBs) and then we’ll see what happens. It was a positive reaction,” added Marko.

TSUNODA TAKING NEWS WELL

Team boss Christian Horner insisted it was a tough choice to miss Tsunoda, however indicated that the job of being Max Verstappen’s teammate is ‘daunting’. The matter was mentioned at size in a gathering of Red Bull group officers and shareholders within the hours instantly after the Abu Dhabi finale.

“The engineers presented comparative figures, which we used as the basis for the decision. In principle, it was a luxury problem, and both deserved the promotion. But Lawson may have more room for improvement in the future. His mental strength in particular was the deciding factor in the end,” defined Horner.

MENTAL TOUGHNESS

Horner additionally famous that Lawson’s ‘pace was a little bit better’ than Tsunoda’s as they went head-to-head during the last a part of the season at RB. “What struck me most about Liam is that you put him in a tough situation, and he copes. He has a tough racing mentality and he’s not afraid to fight wheel-to-wheel and even use contact if necessary. So, I think he will do a great job for us,” concluded Horner.

Former RB (beforehand Toro Rosso-Alpha Tauri) group boss Franz Tost, nonetheless, has a transparent warning for the younger New Zealander. “All I can say about Liam is that he has to do his own thing and never try to compete with Max,” stated the Austrian. “He is far from past his prime and has endless capacity. And he now has the self-confidence of a four-time world champion,” Tost stated.

THINK ONLY ABOUT HIMSELF

“If Liam focuses on Max, it will only go wrong for him. He must only think about himself and try to improve the car together with Max. Anything else would be fatal and doomed to failure,” stated Tost. As for Marko’s infamous brutality with driver choices, he stated: “He (Marko) always puts the pressure on straight away. You just know that if you dpn’t perform, you’ll be fired. That’s definitely tough, but it prepares you for Formula 1,” concluded Tost.

WILL LAWSON MAKE A GOOD TEAMMATE TO MAX?

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