Formula One’s Red Bull Racing are on the back foot for the first time since 2020. Their car was just the third quickest come the end of last season as McLaren and Ferrari surged ahead in the development race.
The team plan to address fundamental design issues with the platform of the RB20, which restricted in season development and created a false ceiling in terms of where the team could take the performance of their 2024 challenger.
Of course with Adrian Newey not influencing the first Red Bull F1 car design since 2005, F1analysts will be quick to judge the efforts of the technical team in Milton Keynes headed up by technical director Pierre Wache. Yet in a bizarre twist of fate, it was the Newey designed suspension which trounced the field when the new grind effect car design rules were implemented in 2022 which caused Red Bull their biggest difficulties last year.
Red Bull double trouble
This was evident in the instability of the RB20 across the bigger kerbs defining the edge of the track in both Monaco and Singapore, where Max had his worst finishes of the year down in P6.
Yet Red Bull’s turmoil’s not restricted to the car design and performance, but the off track dramas surrounding their drivers. Sergio Perez was almost unanimously tipped by the F1 media to return from his summer break to find he had been replaced by Daniel Ricciardo. As it turned out both Christin Horner and Dr. Marko appeared to have decided to give the Mexican the four races before the new autumn break.
Horner explained he had won in two of the up coming F1 venues, yet Sergio’s 13 points from Zandvoort, Monaco, Baku and Singapore did not represent the hopes of the Red Bull team bosses. However ironically it was Daniel Ricciardo, brought in as back up for Perez, who lost his drive and Liam Lawson was drafted in for the final six weekends of the year.
As the dust settled on the post-season test in Abu Dhabi, the Red Bull enclave completed its deliberations. As the white smoke emerged from a Milton Keynes chimney stack, the decision over whom would partner Max this year was announced to a significant amount of surprise from F1 observers.
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Horner sees Yuki’s 5th season as ‘pointless’
It was not to be Yuki Tsunoda who has served four years in the junior Red Bull squad, but New Zealander Lawson after just eleven Grand Prix weekends who would be given the job to sweep up behind Verstappen. This raised the questions, ‘what is Yuki there for if not as a potential Red Bull driver?’
Even Christian Horner appeared bemused as to why the team were retaining the services of the Japanese driver. He suggested if a driver has not made it to the top team after four years, he should be replaced.
“We’re acutely aware that if we’re not able to provide an opportunity for Yuki this year, does it make sense to keep him? You can’t have a driver in the support team for five years,” reckoned Horner. “You can’t always be the bridesmaid. You’ve either got to let them go at that point or look at something different.”
The Red Bull boss’s comments appear to convey the thought, that Tsunoda should not now be with the team for the coming season, given it is his fifth year, which Horner defined as a bridge toon far. Regardless this sets up the tantalising pairing of Red Bull rookie Isack Hadjar alongside Tsunoda who has racked up 90 F1 starts.
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Hadjar has Tsunoda in his sights
Whilst Yuki has been persistently overlooked for promotion to the big Bull team he has in fact seen off drivers expected to finish his career in Nyck de Vries, Daniel Ricciardo and arguably Sam Lawson who he beat 6-0 in qualifying in 2024 and now faces another challenger in Hadjar.
“I know that my experience in F1 is limited,” Hadjar told Frances Canal Plus. “There is a very high level on the grid. In the end, I know myself. I know that when I get in the car, I will want to beat Tsunoda.
“That’s the only real thing, especially in this category where we don’t all have the same car. It’s the only real objective I have in concrete terms.”
Hadjar like Tsunoda is known in the junior formula for his team radio outbursts and in Abud Dhabi ’24 Christian Horner was asked about his temperament after several outbursts during his FP1 outing in the RB20. “Well, look, I mean, he’s a product of the junior team. He’s fighting for the Formula 2 Championship this weekend,” reasoned the Red Bull boss.
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“There’s half a point between him and Bortoleto, who’s going to Sauber. So, yeah, it’s a big weekend for him. It was very important not to put a mark on the car. He did a good job. He gave some reasonable feedback in that session,” Horner said.
That said, Christian made a worrying confession over the French-Algerian racer given the troubles the team have had with Tsunoda. “Yeah, it’s his character. I think he’s quite an emotive communicator. So yes, he’s one of the junior programmes, so depending on movements, he would be next in line to get an opportunity.”
Less than a week later, Hadjar was announced as Yuki’s team mate for 2025 which should provide for entertainment on the F1 team radio channel should a race become rather processional. Hadjar should not underestimate the powers of his Japanese team mate who in effect blew away eight time Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo during the early part of 2024.
Tsunoda’s Red Bull swan song
On beating his team mate Tsunoda said, “Yeah, definitely it helped,” when asked why his future was secured so early in June for another year. “It was a rare, rare moment for the team. To renew the contract like that, in early June, was a very unusual thing.
“That gave me extra confidence, allowing me to focus on the rest of the season, one of the things I was targeted on. Also, I was starting to get interest from other teams as well, which made me feel like a real Formula 1 driver, getting interest.”
Its widely accepted that Yuki Tsunoda was placed with the two Red Bull teams as part of the power unit supply arrangements provided by the Japanese auto manufacturer. With Honda leaving to partner Aston Martin next season, Red Bull will certainly not extend Yuki’s contract, and Honda may already be negotiating their man to replace the hapless son of Aston Martin’s billionaire owner, Lance Stroll.
Whether Hadjar can back up his aspirations to beat his team mate come to pass is yet to be seen, but he his up against a battle hardened Yuki Tsunoda who to date has seen off all comers.
Ferrari’s Hamilton deadline
Lewis Hamilton debuted for his new Ferrari Formula One team this week on a damp cold morning in Fiorano. Despite hysterical reports in the Italian media suggesting local police had been asked to monitor almost a state of emergency with the expected masses that would descend to see the first black driver in the red of Ferrari, around just a 1000 fans turned up for the historic moment.
Earlier in the week Hamilton had visited Maranello where again the expected throng was more subdued than expected, there he had signed autographs for the tifosi, met with his new engineering team along with a sit down with Ferrari group CEO Benedetto Vigna and team principal Fred Vasseur.
Whilst there were reports Hamilton’s lap times on Wednesday were sub-par when compared to those when Fernando Alonso or Sebastian Vettel first sat in a Ferrari Formula One car, the impossible nature of making such a comparison deserves little more than this sentence now affords the topic…. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
