Last Updated on April 3 2025, 11:44 am
The Red Bull Racing saga rolled on and into Japan this week as the fallout out from the team’s earliest ever sacking of a driver continues. Since the news broke that Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda were being switched between the two Red Bull owned Formula One teams, Dr. Marko has been on a frenzied tour of the European F1 media excusing and explaining the alleged reasoning behind the team’s decisions over their driver line up.
Christian Horner by way of contrast has kept his counsel on the matter, issuing a short statement on the day of the announcement but nothing since. Marko claimed the decision to promote Lawson alongside Verstappen made last December was a “unanimous” collective “mistake” which contradicts the comments made at the time by the team principal.
“It was a very split decision and Yuki certainly impressed the team when he tested in Abu Dhabi,” Horner revealed at the team’s announcement that Lawson would be replacing Sergio Perez.
Tensions at Red Bull over driver decisions
There have for some years clearly been tensions within the Red Bull camp over the strategy adopted to find a successful partner to Max Verstappen. Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon came and went, each having graduated from the Red Bull driver academy which has failed to deliver a top flight F1 driver since producing Daniel Ricciardo who finished Sebastian Vettel’s time with the team in 2014.
Verstappen was not a product of Dr. Marko’s school of driving but a late signing made in 2014 based on the promise of an F1 drive for Toro Rosso the following year. Driven to despair with the lack of top drawer talent coming from the junior programme, Christian Horner insisted for 2021 the team recruit an experienced driver.
Sergio Perez had been released by Racing Point (now Aston Martin) and was signed up in the post season after the team announced they were letting Alexander Albon go. Checo became the team’s most successful partner to Verstappen since the Ricciardo days, finishing 4th, 3rd and 2nd in the drivers title race in his first three seasons, giving Red Bull Racing their first 1-2 in 2023.
Yet during the course of 2024, Sergio became increasingly uncomfortable with the direction of the RB20’s development. He scored less than half his points for the year across the closing 19 race weekends, ending his career with Red Bull in ignominious fashion with a DNF in Abu Dhabi.
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Marko ramps up calls for a junior
Meanwhile, Dr. Marko was ramping up the propaganda machine throughout the autumn of last year, persistently telling anyone who would listen that Red Bull had a fine array of junior drivers waiting in the wings for their big F1 moment.
Team boss Christian Horner realised that on the whole the experienced driver experiment with Perez had been a success across the four years and met with Fernando Alonso, Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz in an effort to find another experienced replacement for his Mexican driver.
It appeared that the Verstappen’s and Dr. Marko conspired to black ball the newly available Sainz with persistent stories in the F1 media of how fathers Jos and Carlos Snr failed to get along during their sons’ season together with Toro Rosso in 2015. Marko pressed for Lawson to replace Daniel Ricciardo with six rounds of the 2024 season remaining and his wish was granted as the loveable Aussies F1 career fizzled out in Singapore.
Yet the Liam Lawson of 2023 who stood in for the injured Ricciardo didn’t appear to be the one who returned and was beaten 6-0 in qualifying by Yuki Tsunoda. In fact such was the domination by the Japanese driver, that when Lawson was announced as the replacement for Perez, the F1 media did more than raise a collective eyebrow. It was a genuine surprise that the New Zealand born driver with just 11 Grand Prix weekends under his belt had been favoured over Tsunoda with his 88 Grand Prix starts.
Yuki targets Japan podium finish
As Horner revealed, the decision was tight and there were differing opinions amongst the Senior Red Bull management. Horner’s preference for experience would surely have had him firmly in the Tsunoda camp. Meanwhile Dr. Marko had basked in the glory of his academy find in Liam Lawson, who did hit the ground running as Ricciardo’s substitute in the autumn of 2023.
The fact Red Bull Racing have made the most brutal F1 driver decision in their history in demoting Lawson back to the Racing Bull’s after just two weekends is in itself a testament to the monumental error made in deciding he was ‘the one’ to replace Sergio Perez.
Yuki Tsunoda has been buoyant since the call from on high, even suggesting he may target a podium finish at his home race in Japan this weekend. His diplomatic skills are not so well polished and his description of the RB21 being “not that difficult” to drive is surely one in the eye for Lawson who had been confused by the capricious nature of the car.
Tsunoda also revealed he had been ‘ghosted’ by the head of the Red Bull junior driving programme since the announcement of his promotion which is unusual given the Austrian’s reputation for checking in at the crack of dawn with his proteges. Marko has certainly not been silent in the European F1 media as day after day he explains and excuses the decisions over Lawson and Tsunoda, yet apparently the good Dr. Doctor forgot to pick up the phone to Yuki.
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Marko “ghosts” Tsunoda
Apparently innocent of the ramifications of his comments, Yuki had this to say ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix. “Surprisingly, he [Marko] didn’t call me yet, very unusual,” Yuki revealed. “So, I’m not sure if he was busy with other things.
“I can’t wait to see him, how he’s going to react to me [moving to Red Bull]. But yeah, it’s very unusual.
“From F3 to F1, he was always calling me, but this time he didn’t call me. So, I’m sure there’s not anything from his side. We have still a good relationship, so let’s see how he reacts to that.”
The Red Bull advisor has been bigging up Tsunoda’s apparent miraculous turnaround over the winter break and of course this explains why Tsunoda is now an appropriate team mate for Max but wasn’t 13 weeks ago. “He came out of the winter break strong and delivered two great races in which only the strategy department prevented a better position,” said Marko
“Yuki has changed management, has simply grown up – and he has a lot of self-confidence anyway.”
Horner breaks the news to Yuki
Yuki was left to fend for himself while his mentor ensured the right propaganda was being propagated, it was team boss Christian Horner who did the hand holding according to Tsunoda.
“The first call I got was from Christian right after China,” he said, “that I should maybe be prepared for when things are going to change a little bit. I guess it was Tuesday or something like that, Monday,” Yuki reported in Japan.
“Anyway, I was in the UK, for preparation for Suzuka. It was planned for with VCARB and the plan changed. And immediately, I’ve done a simulator session with Red Bull Racing. I think at that point it was just in case.
“And within the two days, three days I was spending in UK, yeah, he confirmed in person.”
Tsunoda will have a dream debut for Red Bull-Honda in Suzuka this weekend in front of a throng of adoring fans. His claims the RB21 is not as bad as he expected will be tested to the limits, on one of the toughest F1 circuit layouts on the calendar.
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RB21 design “the opposite” of Newey’s recommendation
For the first time since Adrian Newey joined Red Bull the year of its inception, the Milton Keynes based Formula One team have designed a car without input from the guru engineer. Having announced he was leaving Red Bull and taking a sabbatical, within weeks the call of team ownership and a huge dollop of cash and Newey was signed to Aston Martin.
Adrian had not been the technical director of Red Bull Racing since resigning the position back in 2018, when Frenchman Pierre Wache was placed in charge of the day to day technical operations of the team. Newey worked part time and gave input into design issues, as and when, which led to Christian Horner to emphasise on more than one occasion during their dominant 2023 campaign, that Newey was not purely responsible for creating and developing thre Red Bull F1 cars.
“Adrian is a big part of the team and our achieved performance. But of course his role has evolved over the years and the technical team under him, led by Pierre Wache, is doing a great job. They are not dependent on Adrian,” said Red Bull boss Christian Horner to AMuS in 2023. “Adrian has the ability to come in, go out and work on other projects. I think that’s part of the evolution of any team.”… 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.
