How Red Bull driver swap unsettles Racing Bulls team dynamic

The recently announced Red Bull driver swap upsets the Racing Bulls driver dynamic just as it had begun to settle in Formula 1.

Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson are officially trading places, with the latter demoted from Red Bull after just two rounds.

Tsunoda, meanwhile, gets his long-awaited call-up to the big time and is the latest driver dropped into the sink-or-swim shark-infested Red Bull waters.

ANNOUNCEMENT – Red Bull confirms Yuki Tsunoda swap with Liam Lawson from F1 Japanese GP

Racing Bulls now has the task of rejuvenating Lawson, a task the Faenza-based outfit did so successfully with Pierre Gasly many moons ago, but in Tsunoda, it has lost a figurehead it had only recently moulded into a team leader.

When Tsunoda was spurned by Red Bull in favour of Lawson at the end of 2024, the Japanese driver was given the task of enhancing his reputation as Racing Bulls Team Leader, alongside rookie Isack Hadjar.

When Motorsport Week spoke to Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer in Zandvoort last year, he expressed his desire to have a blend of experience and youth in his driver line-up, saying “I strongly believe that you need to have one experienced driver and experienced meaning somebody like Yuki, who has now done a couple of years.

Following up on that conversation at Bahrain pre-season testing, Bayer said that Tsunoda was fitting into that mould well, but did hint that any success as Racing Bulls team leader could tempt the senior outfit.

“Yuki is the next in line in any case, and I think he’s embracing that as a challenge, as something that motivates him to give his very best,” Bayer said in an exclusive conversation. 

“He knows that not only can he be the number one driver in the team here, or the more experienced one, he can also showcase to the world that he is a Formula 1 driver that deserves to be here.

“It was great for him to have Daniel [Ricciardo] with us last year, because he learned a lot about the dynamics between the younger and the more experienced driver, I think he learned a lot about how to give feedback to the engineers, that’s the one thing where he certainly has made a big step compared to the beginning of last year to now.”

Tsunoda’s experience set to benefit Red Bull

In Thursday’s press release announcing the driver swap, Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner said “We acknowledge there is a lot of work to be done with the RB21 and Yuki’s experience will prove highly beneficial in helping to develop the current car.”

Bayer’s words last month in Bahrain echoed that sentiment, as he doubled down on the narrative that emerged from Tsunoda’s post-season Abu Dhabi test in December at the wheel of the Red Bull RB20: that his technical feedback was vastly improved.

“It’s a lot more, it’s more structured, it’s spot on, he’s giving [our engineers] accurate feedback to make sure the car is going faster,” Bayer explained. 

“I remember even when he did the test with Red Bull Racing, it has been confirmed by the Red Bull Racing engineers, who said, ‘honestly, the feedback from Yuki was excellent’, there was absolutely nothing to criticise.

“So he did make progress; he certainly made progress again physically.

“He’s in good shape, I can tell you, he’s in very good shape physically, and I think mentally, he’s now probably starting to benefit from the fact that he’s getting older.

“I think this year he will be able to extract the maximum of his capabilities.”

The dynamic Racing Bulls is losing amid Tsunoda’s departure to Red Bull

Bayer’s words have rung true in the first two rounds of the 2024 season as Tsunoda has featured in the top-10 in all qualifying sessions (Australia fifth, China, eighth and ninth), and has been restrained to just three Shanghai Sprint points due to team strategy.

Not only has Tsunoda shown strength in his performances, but his influence on rookie team-mate Hadjar has been notable.

Hadjar was able to qualify just outside the top-10 in Melbourne before his heartbreaking formation lap exit, but bounced back in China to out-qualify Tsundoa for the Grand Prix.

Again, were it not for strategy, Hadjar would have been a points scorer in just his second F1 weekend.

“Isack fits perfectly well into the team, he’s first of all fast, he’s proven in the junior Series his abilities,” Bayer said in pre-season.

“We’ve got two fun, outgoing drivers, they get along really well. 

“I think roles are clear, also because both are extremely focused on themselves. 

“Yuki wants to show that he’s the number one, Isack wants to show that he’s the right choice, and he wants to stay.”

New Racing Bulls pairing have points to prove

With Tsunoda departing and Lawson, who has just 13 GP starts to his name returning with a point to prove, the dynamic has suddenly changed at Racing Bulls.

Whereas before there was a clearly defined leader and rookie relationship yielding strong results, Lawson and Hadjar will now be competing directly to prove they’re worthy of continuing in F1.

Hadjar no longer has Tsunoda to learn from and will need to capitalise on his strong start to maintain his F1 presence.

Lawson, meanwhile, needs to rediscover his confidence quickly to revive his F1 career.

This will all play out as Red Bull preps its prospects in the background.

Ayumu Iwasa is a name on the Red Bull books worthy of a mention, as is Formula 2 rookie Arvid Lindblad, who at 17 has already featured in TPC running with Racing Bulls at Imola.

“Obviously, we’ve got young talent coming, knocking on the door, with [Ayumu] Iwasa, and certainly with Lindblad,” said Bayer.

“There’s lots of movement, as always, and the pressure is on, which I think is good, which is healthy, and which is what the sport is about.”

READ MORE – Racing Bulls had ‘easy’ choice promoting Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar to F1