Yuki Tsunoda need not worry about his Red Bull stint potentially being as short as Liam Lawson’s with Helmut Marko offering support.

The Japanese driver will step into Lawson’s vacated RB21 at Suzuka next week, with Red Bull swapping the two drivers after a difficult first two race weekends for Lawson at the senior team.

Helmut Marko confirms Yuki Tsunoda in until ‘end of the season’

Lawson failed to clear Q1 in either qualifying session in Australia and China, while also being eliminated in SQ1 in the Sprint event in China.

Failing to move up into the points in either Grand Prix, Lawson crashed out in Australia as the rain came, while finishing a lowly 15th in China after being sent out on a sub-optimal two-stop strategy.

With Red Bull opting for change by rotating Lawson into the sister Racing Bulls team and promoting Yuki Tsunoda – the experienced Japanese driver – alongside Max Verstappen, the Milton Keynes-based squad now has two experienced veterans of the Red Bull stable in its main driver line-up, with the sister team boasting two rookies.

In the press release announcing the change, Red Bull had explained that, in having access to four seats on the grid, the switch is an exercise in “driver rotation”, suggesting that further changes could be made in the second Red Bull cockpit should Tsunoda also flounder.

But Tsunoda need not worry if he fails to hit the ground running, as Red Bull has no plans to make any further changes, according to advisor Helmut Marko.

Speaking to the BBC, Marko said Tsunoda will be given until “the end of the season” at Red Bull to prove himself “because we believe he can do the job”.

This would seem to shut down any possibility of Red Bull rotating their second cockpit any further this season, including the possibility of giving Isack Hadjar a shot if Tsunoda underperforms.

The switch means Red Bull will now race with the line-up many felt was the more sensible as the speculation towards the end of last season pitted Lawson and Tsunoda against each other for the seat alongside Verstappen.

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Lawson was initially given the nod, due to Red Bull feeling his mentality and confidence was enough to thrive alongside Verstappen, while there were still doubts over Tsunoda’s emotional control – the Japanese driver has had temper-fuelled incidents during his four years in F1, with the most recent notable incident being at last season’s Bahrain Grand Prix when he accelerated in anger dangerously close to teammate Daniel Ricciardo after the chequered flag.

As for why Tsunoda is now the preferred option, Marko said, “Tsunoda made a big step. It’s strange after four years, now in his fifth year, he is a much stronger personality, he has more confidence and he did two very good races, it’s just his strategy didn’t work at Racing Bulls.

“In this case, a very difficult car experience is something that will help. That was our thoughts.”

With Lawson being given the chance to rebuild his career at Racing Bulls, and follow in the footsteps of other junior drivers who have struggled upon promotion to the lead team like Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon, the Kiwi driver took to social media on Thursday night to share his thoughts on the switch.

With the Lawson camp indicating to PlanetF1.com that the Red Bull decision has been met with acceptance, the driver said he’s finding the circumstances “tough” but is excited to be returning to Racing Bulls.

“Being a Red Bull Racing driver has been my dream since I was a kid, it’s what I’ve worked towards my whole life,” he wrote on Instagram.

“I’m grateful for everything that’s brought me to this point. To every one of you who’s stood by me, thank you for all the support. It means the world.”

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