With Liam Lawson’s season getting off to a rocky start, Red Bull may have pulled off yet another hiring blunder.
Like many drivers, Lawson had a weekend to forget last time out in Melbourne.
A dismal performance across all three practice sessions saw Liam enter his first qualifying session as a Red Bull driver seriously unprepared. The 22-year-old New Zealander looked unsure of himself and was well off the pace compared to his teammate Max Verstappen.
Running wide on multiple occasions, Lawson just couldn’t hook up a clean lap in his RB21.
A technical malfunction meant the young New Zealander had to bow out of FP3 early, leaving him with limited running heading into qualifying.
And it went about as you’d expect. Carrying too much speed out of the tricky 9/10 section, Lawson drifted wide and lost precious milliseconds. He would lose even more time later on in the lap, going completely off the track at turn 13. With his lap ruined, Lawson had to settle for 18th. And he wouldn’t fair any better on Sunday either.
Lawson will want to move on quickly from his result in Melbourne and prove his worth in China.
Yuki Tsunoda’s performance, however, was starkly different. The Japanese driver has come leaps and bounds since his rookie days in F1, putting in consistent race and qualifying performances last season. And Melbourne was no exception. Despite going off the road in the first practice session, Tsunoda was kicking it with the big dogs in the other two, staying firmly within the top 10. Tsunoda put in a qualifying performance worthy of a better race seat, his best lap good enough for 5th: Ahead of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
Tsunoda and Lawson were running at opposite ends of the field for much of the race. While Tsunoda lapped well within the podium places, Lawson languished at the lower end.
While both drivers were caught out by the rain towards the end of the grand prix, they came out of it with differing results. Staying out far too late on his slick tires, Lawson struggled for grip on the steadily dampening track and hit the wall, bringing out the race’s third safety car. Tsunoda managed to nurse his slick-shod car the circuit for a couple laps before he ducked into the pits. His apprehensiveness, however, meant he finished 12th at race’s end, an unfitting climax to his weekend.
While largely inexperienced, Lawson isn’t totally new to the world of F1, having subbed in for Daniel Ricciardo in 2023 and taking over his Racing Bulls seat after Singapore last year.
Having bought out Sergio Perez before his contract expired, Red Bull’s second seat was left vacant heading into the 2025 season. And while Red Bull’s decision to pick Liam Lawson over Yuki Tsunoda came as no surprise to anyone, it was still quite baffling.
The New Zealander has been biding his time for a number of years now, lurking in the shadows as Red Bull’s reserve driver. Since leaving F2 in 2022, the 22-year-old bounced from series to series, driving for the team in DTM and Superformula. Lawson exceeded expectations in the touring car championship, fighting for the championship in his rookie season.
After four long seasons driving for their junior team, Yuki Tsunoda was looking for his next big break. Having honed his skills over that time, Tsunoda was consistent throughout the 2024 season, regularly featuring in the points.
Red Bull’s decision, however, didn’t come down to results or consistency, but “character” according to their team principal Christian Horner. While he did acknowledge Yuki Tsunoda’s hard work and growth over the last four years on the Talksport podcast, Horner went on to say that Liam Lawson was more suited for the role as Max Verstappen’s teammate. “We believe that Liam has got the right characteristics, the right strength of character to deal with the pressure that comes with being Max Verstappen’s teammate.”
But while this doesn’t rule out a move to the big leagues in the future, Yuki’s career choices will become even narrower in 2026.
F1 is set to have its first regulations shake up since 2022, resetting the board entirely. To mark the occasion, Red Bull has chosen to ditch their partnership with Honda in favour of Ford.
And with Yuki Tsunoda apparently linked to the Japanese manufacturer, his future with Red Bull is up in the air.
But there is a light at the end of the tunnel for this colourful driver. Aston Martin will also part ways with their current engine supplier Mercedes in 2026, cherry picking Honda ahead of the new regulations.
With Fernando Alonso’s time in the sport nearing its unfortunate close, Tsunoda would be the perfect replacement for the two time champion.
Having raced in the sport before some drivers were even born, the 43-year-old is the oldest on the grid.
Honda’s partnership with Aston Martin, especially while Alonso is still driving for the team, is an interesting one. Having openly criticised them in the past, Alonso’s relationship with Honda is a tenuous one.
But considering Red Bull’s success with the Japanese manufacturer over the past 4 and a bit years, Alonso would be more than welcoming of them now.
With Lance Stroll’s father Lawrence Stroll currently owning the Silverstone-based team, his future is all but certain.
But if and when either driver’s time with Aston Martin comes to a close, Tsunoda is the perfect candidate for the seat. Yuki has made remarkable improvements since joining the sport in 2021, moulding himself into a competent and consistent racing driver. Red Bull choosing a relatively unqualified driver with barely a season under his belt is, for lack of a better word, stupid. And with the Racing Bulls machinery the way it is, Tsunoda can’t do a whole lot to impress would-be employers.
