The Dutch champion would have preferred to keep Liam Lawson as his teammate.
Last night, news from the Netherlands reported that Red Bull, after a meeting in Dubai, had decided to swap seats between Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese driver, supported by Honda, would move up alongside Max Verstappen, while the young New Zealand driver would be demoted to Racing Bulls after just two races.
However, also yesterday, the British news outlet The Race released another report suggesting that Max Verstappen himself does not agree with the seat swap between Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda, as it was based on just two races to judge Lawson’s ability to match the reigning world champion.
In fact, according to Verstappen, the problem does not lie with the driver alongside him, but rather with the limitations of the car, as was already evident in the second half of last season. Despite the good initial expectations, the RB21 did not turn out to be a significant step forward compared to the 2024 car.
Max Verstappen does not agree with Red Bull’s decision: the words of Lawson and Horner.
The same issue was highlighted by Liam Lawson himself after the disappointing race in Shanghai: “To be honest, we were even more competitive in yesterday’s Sprint. We managed to overtake and gain positions. We tried something with the setup to learn something today. It was quite a big change, and unfortunately, it just didn’t work.” “
“There’s a lot to learn from this weekend – and for me personally, there’s a lot to understand. It’s been extremely difficult. I’d like to say that I just need more time to drive the car, but obviously, we don’t really have that.” Lawson explained. “Fortunately, the next race is at a track I know and like.”
“I will spend this week analyzing everything in depth to try to do a better job,” concluded the New Zealand driver.
However, Red Bull’s team principal, Christian Horner, does not seem to share the same view as Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson. After the Shanghai race, he focused on the Constructors’ Championship, where the Austrian team is in third place with 36 points, 21 points behind Mercedes and 42 points behind McLaren. It is also worth noting that all 36 points have been brought in by Max Verstappen, with Liam Lawson still stuck at zero.
“Never say never,” said Red Bull’s team principal on this matter. “I think the only thing McLaren showed everyone last year is that you can have a difficult start but still be very competitive. We are just eight points behind in the Drivers’ Championship.”
“The [Costruttori]Championship is a very tough challenge, and we need to make significant progress with the car to even fight for it. You need to have two cars scoring points, which obviously hurt us a lot last year.“
“We need to have two cars in the race, and to compete for the Drivers’ Championship, you need to have another car in the mix. It’s vital for the team to ensure that both drivers are as close as possible to the front of the race.” Horner concluded.
PHOTO: Max Verstappen, Oracle Red Bull Racing, F1, Liam Lawson.
