Christian Horner made a promise to Yuki Tsunoda in Japan that will be a gut punch to Liam Lawson

Red Bull Racing have taken drastic action to try and regain their constructors’ championship crown this season, but it’s too soon to say whether their latest decision is going to pay off.

It’s telling that since last season’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Max Verstappen has achieved more victories than the drivers in the second Red Bull seat alongside him have scored points.

Sergio Perez finished 10th in Las Vegas, which could prove to be the final point he ever scores in F1, before Verstappen won again in Qatar and then at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Liam Lawson failed in both of his race weekends as a Red Bull driver to trouble the scorers, while Yuki Tsunoda’s debut ended with a P12 finish.

Lawson struggled badly during his time with Red Bull, and while his demotion seemed incredibly harsh, he would have been aware of how Christian Horner’s team tends to act in these situations before he took the job.

Tsunoda has witnessed Red Bull’s decision-making process for the past four seasons while driving for their second team, and quickly realised what a difficult task it is to be in the spotlight alongside Verstappen.

READ MORE: Who is Racing Bulls F1 driver Liam Lawson? Everything you need to know

Ted Kravitz questions Christian Horner’s comments after the Japanese Grand Prix

Debriefing the Japanese Grand Prix on The F1 Show, pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz was analysing Tsunoda’s first race for Red Bull.

While talking through his point-less debut outing for the team, he explained: “It was Fernando Alonso between him and Ollie Bearman in the points, but at no point did he look like trying to pull a move on Fernando Alonso.

“In Yuki’s defence, no one else looked like they were ready to pull a move on anybody else today, only Lewis Hamilton on Isack Hadjar early on, and maybe he was a bit stuck.

“He pitted on lap 24, not too quick, maybe too much rear wing, maybe he was overwinged.

“You’re not going to the podium if you’re overwinged.

“But Christian [Horner] said to you, Simon [Lazenby], we have to build an easier car for the other driver, it won’t be quick, but it will be easier.

“And I hadn’t heard him say that about Liam Lawson? Did they build an easier car for Liam Lawson?

“So, if that’s allowed and that’s taken on board and they know they’ve given Yuki an easier car, but they know it’s a slower car, then what constitutes success now?”

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda’s life outside F1 from height to parents

Yuki Tsunoda must listen to engineers over set-up after Japanese Grand Prix blunder

In the build-up to the race, Tsunoda admitted he didn’t expect any help from Verstappen, despite the fact that both drivers have the same common goal to help Red Bull.

The RB21 has a notoriously small operating window, and Red Bull needed to do extensive simulator work to find the right solution.

While Verstappen kept innovating throughout the weekend and went with a different wing setting for qualifying and the race itself, Tsunoda went in a different direction.

He played it slightly too safe, and when he made a slight error in Q2 on one of his flying laps, that ended up sealing with fate.

Red Bull need Tsunoda to follow Verstappen’s setup choices and adapt as quickly as possible, as he seems to have the knowledge required to push the car to its limits.

However, Horner admitting that the car needs to be easier to drive for Tsunoda will be a gut punch to Lawson, who wasn’t given the time needed to try and understand why he couldn’t extract the required pace out of the RB21.