Red Bull has not ruled out replacing the struggling Liam Lawson in Formula 1, as advisor Helmut Marko commended Yuki Tsunoda’s “more mature” showings in 2025.
Lawson’s disastrous start to his Red Bull career continued at the Chinese Grand Prix as he lagged home in 15th place to remain scoreless with two rounds completed.
Having endured an incident-laden debut with the team in Australia, Lawson qualified slowest for the Sprint and main event, culminating in race results down the order.
That has heightened the pressure on Lawson, who even conceded earlier in the weekend that he doesn’t have the time he needs to adapt to a sensitive Red Bull RB21.
Marko agreed with that sentiment, as he admitted that Red Bull had been disappointed with Lawson’s initial outings alongside reigning F1 champion Max Verstappen.
“He’s right. It was disappointing, and we have to go through and analyse everything, and then we see,” he said. “It’s all depending on performance and he didn’t deliver.”
Red Bull boss Christian Horner insisted that Lawson is being supported, but he stressed that the team requires both drivers to deliver points to help its title prospects.
“We know there’s performance we need to find, and we need both drivers up there if there’s to be any chance of fighting for a Constructors’ Championship,” he said.
“And at the very least, with the Drivers’ Championship as well, you need to have a second car in play.
“So, we want, as a team, collectively, to make sure that we’re getting the best out of both drivers and getting both cars as far up the grid as we can.
“Formula 1 is a pressure business, isn’t it? There’s always time pressure. He knows that, and hopefully, he’ll respond accordingly. We’ll see where we go.”
Tsunoda impressing Red Bull
The speculation surrounding Lawson’s position with Red Bull has coincided with Tsunoda sustaining a productive opening to the season with sister side Racing Bulls.
Tsunoda claimed sixth place in the Sprint race in Shanghai and was poised to add points in both grands prix until Racing Bulls made strategic blunders on the pit wall.
Red Bull overlooked Tsunoda to replace the axed Sergio Perez, citing concern over whether he harbours the mental resilience to tackle being Verstappen’s team-mate.
However, Marko expressed that he has been impressed with the Japanese driver’s response to his omission amid rumours that he could be given his coveted chance.
“Yuki is a different Yuki from the years before,” Marko told Autosport. “He is in the form of his life.
“Obviously he changed his management. He has a different approach. He’s more mature. It took a while, but now it looks like it’s working.”
Tsunoda has voiced that he is still willing to make the step to Red Bull despite the woes others have endured, even as soon as his home race at Suzuka next month.
Asked whether he would welcome the Red Bull drive, Tsunoda told media including Motorsport Week: “Japan? Yeah, 100 per cent. I mean, the [Red Bull] car is faster.”
READ MORE – Yuki Tsunoda still eager to land Red Bull shot despite Liam Lawson woes
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