06/06/2025 13:50
It was a close call, but in the end, Red Bull has been urged to give Yuki Tsunoda more time. It has been a tough seven grands prix for Tsunoda following his promotion to Red Bull after Christian Horner and Helmut Marko opted to demote Liam Lawson after just two races with the team. Although Tsunoda had been overlooked for Lawson over the winter break as the replacement for Sergio Perez, the Japanese driver was asked to step up and provide the support for Max Verstappen that the team required. Tsunoda, however, has only managed an average of a point per race, scoring just seven, leaving Red Bull 218 adrift of McLaren in the constructors' championship. As for four-time champion Verstappen, he has been fighting lone battles against McLaren pair Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris as Tsunoda, like Perez and Lawson before him, is struggling to understand how best to extract performance from the car. Red Bull team principal Horner has not ruled out the possibility of the team making another change before the end of the season, with the in-form Isack Hadjar a possibility following a superb start to his rookie season with Racing Bulls. So we asked the question whether Red Bull should again change Verstappen's team-mate, and the vote was narrow, with 48.83 per cent saying that, yes, Tsunoda had not performed up to standard and should be replaced. It meant the vote was in favour of Red Bull retaining Tsunoda to allow him more time to get up to speed, with 51.17% siding with him. Amongst the comments, Paul Woodthorpe suggested Hadjar be given three races at the end of the season to allow him "to get a feel for the Red Bull and see what he can do with it". He added: "But ultimately, it isn't because Yuki (or Lawson, Perez, Gasly or Albon) were bad drivers, but because they [Red Bull] built the car around a guy who likes a very distinct and unique driving style that breaks the norm. Swapping drivers is not going to fix the issue."
