Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson has commented on Yuki Tsunoda’s ongoing struggles at Red Bull Racing, following his swap with Tsunoda early in the season. The Japanese driver has been experiencing challenges with the RB21 F1 car, leading to a significant gap in performance to his teammate, Max Verstappen.
Lawson was promoted to Red Bull from the sister F1 team, Racing Bulls, after the 2024 season, replacing Sergio Perez. However, his underwhelming performances in the first two rounds of the 2025 season led Red Bull to swap him with Tsunoda.
However, Tsunoda has been facing similar problems to those encountered by Lawson and Perez. He has been struggling to adapt to Red Bull’s F1 car, which is reportedly suited to Verstappen. Perez, Lawson, and Tsunoda didn’t come close to matching Verstappen’s performance, a point that hints at the theory of the car being designed around the four-time world champion.
Tsunoda has scored points in three races out of the 12 Grands Prix that have gone by thus far, with his best position being P9. Lawson has scored points in two races with a best finish of P6.
The New Zealander revealed that he does feel less burdened when witnessing Tsunoda’s difficulties with Red Bull’s challenger, given his demotion after the second round in China. When asked by Sky Sports F1 if watching Tsunoda struggle reduced the pressure on him, Lawson said:
“Potentially yes. At the same time, I had two races and honestly didn’t get to grips with it at all in that time, so it is something I won’t know.
“It was a couple of very tough weekends, and I worked my whole career to get to Red Bull Racing, and it was a tough start to the season.
“I’m super proud of the guys and girls because there has been a lot of work to help me get comfortable in this car, and it has felt good.”
Lawson revealed in another interview that Red Bull did not give him enough time to adapt to the RB21. Newsweek Sports reported:
“I didn’t have anywhere near enough time on two tracks that I had never been to to really understand [the car]. I didn’t have enough feel for the car to be able to comment on what its speed is like or things like that.
“We were working on things to improve it and make it better for me, and I never got the chance to use it, so all I can comment on is the Racing Bulls car because that’s what I’ve spent most of my time driving.”
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