Jos Verstappen statement: Remarkable as usual – Red Bull Racing are once again the centre of a Formula One controversy having sacked their latest recruit as Verstappen’s team mate after just two weekends of the 2025 season. The blame game has begun within the organisation as Dr. Helmut Marko called the Liam Lawson call up as a “mistake” which he then conveniently informed the world was a “unanimous” decision made by the Red Bull management in December.

Max Verstappen has demonstrated his displeasure at the driver switch between Tsunoda and Lawson by liking a post by Dutch racing driver Guideo van de Garde, which stated the treatment of the Kiwi driver was tantamount to “bullying.”

Lawson has reacted to the move with graciousness posting on social media: “It’s tough, but I’m grateful for everything that’s brought me to this point,” he said adding his appreciation to the Racing Bull’s team for his new opportunity.

 

 

 

Horner and Marko disagree

Yet internally within the Milton Keynes based team the blame game has begun. When Lawson was promoted, Christie Horner stated that the choice between him and Tsunoda had been a tight decision. The Red Bull team boss said it had “split” the room in direct contradiction to the claims Dr. Marko is now making.

Red Bull Racing have been lambasted in the Formula One media with a number of senior writers calling put the treatment of Lawson as “cowardly,” “incompetent” and down right “deplorable.” Regardless, Red Bull have couched the driver switch in terms of the need to improve the tricky to drive RB21, a role they claim Tsunoda is better qualified for than Lawson with his experience of just thirteen Grand Prix.

The F1 world has been waiting with baited breath for the thoughts of outspoken Jos Verstappen who has repeatedly clashed with team boss Christie Horner since the start of the 2024 season, at times claiming his leadership is “tearing the team apart.” Of course this was the result of a tangled love triangle, where Horner allegedly ‘got the girl’ whom Jos had previously pursued.

The female employee involved was dismissed by Red Bull Racing last season has launched a legal claim against the team in the UK’s employment tribunal process, which will be heard in January 2026. Yet for now Horner is focused on damage limitation over the lawson saga as he attempts to focus the team and its drivers on the task ahead in Japan.

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Remarkable restrain from Jos

Today, Jos finally broke his silence over the demotion of the New Zealand born driver but his comments were by his standards mightily reserved. Following a post from the Racing Bulls official Instagram feed welcoming Lawson back to the team, Verstaoppen Snr added: “I really hope you go and do a fantastic job. He deserves to be in F1.”

The opportunity for Jos Verstappen to unleash another tirade of abuse upon the Red Bull team boss appears for now to have been resisted by the former Benetton F1 driver and the restrain in his reposes to date has truly been remarkable.

Yet the matter is clearly one of an internal dispute in the Red Bull Racing team as Dr. Helmut Marko is doing plenty of talking amongst his favourite F1 media outlets. Now in addition to the 82 year old Austrian’s initial explanation for the Lawson decision which had described his mental state as a “punch drunk boxer” going down for the least time, Marko today has spoken to the energy drinks I house media outlet Servus TV.

“In order to save his career, we decided to send him back to Racing Bulls,” Marko declared magnanimously to the Austrian channel. This on top of the fact that the team argue Ysunoda will better help the troublesome RB21 car is now the party line.

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Perez warned of partnering Verstappen

Marko admits over the years only Max verstappen has truly been able to master the Red Bull F1 car designs. “In all these years,” Marko added, “Max is the only one who can handle the car optimally. For a young driver, we see that it’s even more difficult. If we had just left Liam in the car, we think his performance under pressure would have been even worse.”

Yet the very reason Red Bull overlooked their Japanese driver with over 88 Grand Prix starts when compared to Lawson’s 11, was stated at the time because Yuki’s metal temperament was questionable. That careful analysis across a full season has now been torn up following two F1 race weekends where Liam lawson has struggled with the RB21.

Apparently in just those two weekends, Tsunoda has now demonstrated he has developed the mental toughness for the job of being Verstappen’s team mate in a difficult to drive car, something even the vastly experienced Sergio Perez failed to manage in the end.

Having learned his fate in December, the outgoing Checo had this to say for his replacement. “Being teammates with Max at red Bull as a young driver, I wouldn’t like to be in those shoes, if I’m honest,” said Checo. “People cannot underestimate the level of challenge that there is in this seat.”

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Lawson a “mistake”

Yet Tsunoda always appeared a better fit on this front, given his feisty demeanour behind the wheel and aggressive driving style. Apart from the odd rude colloquial faux pas, Yuki is a pleasant character in the paddock and a favourite with the English speaking media. Yet his aggressive attitude behind the wheel combined with a car capable of race wins and podiums meant he was in fact the perfect in house replacement Red Bull had for the outgoing Perez.

Red Bull just made a HUGE “mistake” as Marko admitted. Honda had offered before the decision was made to promote Lawson to sponsor the Red Bull team to the tune of an extra $20m a year should they make Tsunoda the latest team mate for Verstappen. A marginally revised deal is believed to have been done to get the Japanese driver into the RB21 tome for his and Honda’s home race in Suzuka.

Yuki will now head to Japan with the eyes of the Formula One world upon him and never will a free practice one in Suzuka have garnished such global attention since maybe the arrival of Verstappen himself into the sport.

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Red Bull handling characteristics suit Yuki

Tsunoda drove the RB20 in a post-season test in Abu Dhabi last December and claimed he cold feel the extra performance of the car which had carried Verstappen to his fourth consecutive drivers’ title. Yuki also claimed “I feel like the car suits my driving style and I haven’t struggled much at all to adapt, even on the long runs I have been able to run consistently today and was able to feel the limitations of the car which if you don’t have confidence in the car you are unable to test.”

Whilst the RB21 is indeed a different racing machine to the one Tsunoda experienced three months ago, it will retain the fundamental handling characteristics of all the Red Bull ground effect car designs first launched back in 2022.

With a fair wind and a dry weekend, Tsunoda could revolutionise his racing career in two weeks time. Just days ago it appeared he was to be released at the end of the year by the Red Bull organisation with no obvious place on the grid for the Japanese driver next season. Now Yuki is being hailed as the saviour of Red Bull Racing’s fortunes, as he fulfils the key role in turning around the fortunes of the RB21. 

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Red Bull ‘leaks’ over Lawson poor state of mind

As TJ13 reported earlier, the blame game has begun inside the Red Bull Formula One team. When the Kiwi was given the Red Bull drive for 2025, Christian Horner explained the choice between Lawson and Tsunoda had been a tough one, with those involved making “a split decision.”

Dr. Marko has come out today stating to OE24 that the decision was in fact unanimous. “Yuki was too inconsistent,” said Marko. “That’s why we unanimously decided in favour of Lawson. But he wasn’t able to perform under the greater pressure, right from the first day in Australia.”

“Then he went into a downward spiral,” Marko continued. “It’s like a battered boxer, it’s very difficult to get out of it. As the late Queen Elizabeth said of Meghan Merkel accusations, “recollections may vary,” and it appears this already the case at Red Bull. The Milton Keynes based F1 team have come in for some scathing criticism from senior F1 writers, describing them as “cowardly,” “incompetent” and “deplorable,” in the way they’ve handled the Lawson saga… READ MORE