Liam Lawson says he was touched by the “warm” reception he received returning to the Racing Bulls team and his first outing in the VCARB02 this season proved to be a success. In first practice in Japan he used the session to build confidence in the car finishing just over three tenths slower than rookie team mate Isack Hadjar.
The repeated disruptions of the afternoon practice meant that drivers who completed the planned one hour session completed just completed between nine and fourteen laps. Even so the Racing Bull drivers finished an impressive third and fifth, with Lawson now merely for hundredths of a second behind his new team mate.
Tsunoda justifies promotion
Red Bull’s newly promoted Yuki Tsunoda appeared to justify his promotion alongside world champion Max Verstappen as in the first session of the day he finished one place behind his new team mate, just over a tenth behind the Dutch driver.
The second session was inconclusive for Tsunoda as he failed to complete a qualifying simulation and on his interrupted long runs was 2.511s slower than pace settler Oscar Piastri.
Verstappen struggled in FP2 coming home in just eight place, although the Dutch driver said the team’s run plans were ruined by the frequent red flags.
Japan: FIA emergency meeting to break manufacturers control
McLaren set the pace during red flagged practice
At the end of the day Max admitted Red Bull had “a lot of work to do” to find pace to match the McLaren duo with the world champion over half a second down on Piastri who topped the timesheets. “It wasn’t an easy day,” Verstappen told assembled media. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t complete our program because of the red flags, but that was the case for everyone.
“Nevertheless, we were able to try out a lot with the car. It’s really tricky to put together a good lap here. You need a lot of confidence, and that’s currently lacking. So, we still have a lot of work ahead of us.”
Confidence on the fast flowing Suzuka circuit is crucial when looking for lap time as the cars hurtle through turn one at over 185mph. Mercedes Kimi Antonelli who has never raced here before described the iconic Essex as “scary” when he drove them for the first time in the team’s simulator.
Verstappen’s predictions
Verstappen was said to be angry over his team’s treatment of Liam Lawson, who was forced to compete the first two rounds of the year at circuits he’d never raced at before. The world champion believes Red Bull jumped too soon in switching Lawson and Tsunoda and repeatedly claims it is the RB21 thats the problem and not the drivers.
Max also predicted in China, that had Lawson been driving the Racing Bull car, he would have been quicker than in the RB21, something which was proven as the Kiwi went faster than the world champion in the Red Bull. Lawson’s next target is to beat his super fast rookie team mate, Isack Hadjar, whose P3 in the afternoon session was lauded by all.
Tost scathing comments at Red Bull
The Ex-boss of the Red Bull sister team, Franz Tost, was scathing over the decisions made by his former colleagues in Milton Keynes. He repeatedly backed Tsunoda during his time in charge stating in modern Formula One it takes three years for a rookie to establish themselves.
Yuki is often tarred with the brush that he’s only in F1 because of the Honda relationship with Red Bull, yet whilst Honda did support the Japanese driver through his junior formula, it was him almost winning the F2 title during his rookie season which caught the eye of a number of team bosses.
Tsunoda has seen off all comers in terms of his team mates and Tost argues Red Bull made the wrong decision in December when overlooking Yuki for the Red Bull seat vacated by Sergio Perez. “I would have done with Yuki Tsunoda from the start,” he told Austrian outlet ORF.
“I said that already, I made it clear last Autumn. Why? – Yuki is much faster than Lawson. You could give Lawson 100 years, and he still wouldn’t be as fast as Yuki – and Yuki is more experienced.
“So what’s the issue? It’s a very simple decision.”
Tsunoda looks quick in Japan
Tsunoda appears to have justified his old bosses confidence and his year’s of experience will stand him in good stead as he tries to work out how best to setup the tricky RB21. Yet the team bosses of the Red bull sister company are not to blame for the driver decisions, given it is the Red Bull hierarchy and Dr. Marko who makes the calls on who drives where across the four F1 seats they have on offer.
Lauren mikes, the current boss at the Racing Bulls did suggest last autumn he felt Yuki Tsunoda was the best prepared of the team’s drivers to take advantage of any opening that would appear in the Red Bull team.
“It’s definitely a confirmation that the right call was made. Yuki has incredible natural speed – I’ve been saying that for years. Now he just needs to put it together properly,” adds Tost.
“He’s still too emotional in the car sometimes, and maybe that’s one of the reasons they didn’t pick him over Lawson in the first place. But in terms of raw pace, Yuki absolutely belongs with the best F1 drivers.
“And if he can translate that into consistency, perform in the races, and keep his emotions in check, then it’s going to be a very good season for Red Bull and Yuki Tsunoda.”
Red Bull junior drivers under the microscope in Japan
Lawson’s apparent smooth reintegration into the team and apparent pace in the VCARB02 suggests that his potential remains largely untapped, especially if given consistent track time and support.
Yuki Tsunoda, meanwhile, has begun to silence the critics who have long claimed that his place in F1 is more political than meritocratic. Strong performances at the Japanese Grand Prix weekend – particularly in FP1, where he was within a tenth of Verstappen – hint at the kind of breakthrough season Tsunoda may be ready to deliver.
His experience, combined with growing maturity, makes him a real threat on the grid and perhaps even a more natural long-term Red Bull candidate than many had previously believed. Backed by Franz Tost and supported internally by team figures such as Laurent Mekies, Tsunoda now has the backing, the belief and potentially the equipment to prove his doubters wrong. However, his path to full recognition still requires greater consistency and the ability to handle the pressure of race situations, something that has at times undermined his raw talent.
B0ttom line
The broader picture emerging from Suzuka is one of increasing tension within the Red Bull camp, not just over the performance of the car but also their strategic direction concerning driver development. The RB21’s erratic behavior and the struggles of even a driver as dominant as Verstappen reinforce that perhaps the car, not the drivers, should be under the microscope.
The weekend in Japan provided a glimpse of what Lawson and Tsunoda are capable of when given the right tools and opportunity. With Max Verstappen expressing his frustration at Red Bull’s management of young talent, and former team boss Tost openly criticising the decisions made in Milton Keynes, the spotlight is now firmly on the decision-makers at Red Bull.
MORE F1 NEWS – Ferrari reveal new factor in underweight car in China
The double disqualification of the Ferrari drivers from the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix, came as a huge shock to the paddock. For an F1 team to have one car disqualified for technical reasons is rare, but never in Ferrari’s F1 history have they had two cars thrown out of the final classification, truly a low point for the iconic team
The team did not fight the decision of the stewards in China issuing a statement which said: “Following the FIA post-race scrutineering both our cars were found not to conform to the regulations for different reasons…. we will learn from what happened today and make sure we don’t make the same mistakes again.”
Of course the blame game in the Italian media was instantaneous and brutal. “Chaos,” “a disaster” and “an embarrassment” screamed the back page headlines in Italy with some suggesting that Hamilton had already lost faith in his new team after just two race weekends… READ MORE ON THIS STORY
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.
Bad taken aged badly