Red Bull are finding out what ex-F1 racer Karun Chandhok had already warned them over last season, he claims.

And that relates to Liam Lawson after Red Bull made the decision to send him back to Racing Bulls after only two rounds of F1 2025, with Yuki Tsunoda coming the other way as he finally gets his shot in the Red Bull.

Karun Chandhok on Red Bull drivers: Albon the one they needed?

However, in Chandhok’s opinion, neither Lawson nor Tsunoda are the driver which Red Bull needs alongside Max Verstappen.

Instead, as Lawson returns to Racing Bulls to partner rookie Isack Hadjar – who has made an impressive start to F1 life at Racing Bulls – Chandhok believes Hadjar should still have been on the sidelines perfecting his craft and waiting for an opportunity at a Racing Bulls team consisting of Tsunoda and Lawson.

That, says Chandhok, would have allowed Red Bull to bring back the driver they need, to his mind: Alex Albon.

The Thai racer managed a season-and-a-half alongside Verstappen, but as Pierre Gasly before him found out – then Sergio Perez and Lawson after – struggling to contend with Verstappen’s level leads to the exit door.

Albon spent 2021 as Red Bull reserve but since returning to the grid with Williams a year later, has re-built his reputation to the point of being linked with a Red Bull return and even Ferrari in recent years.

In a social media post, Chandhok – a former Red Bull junior and Hispania/Lotus F1 driver – wrote: “As I said last season, RBR should have signed Albon and allowed Liam to develop at Racing Bulls in 2025 while giving Hadjar a comprehensive test program like Merc have done with Kimi [Antonelli].

“Albon & Gasly have bounced back superbly after moving elsewhere – hope Liam does the same!”

More on the Tsunoda, Lawson Red Bull swap

👉 Christian Horner: Why it ‘makes sense’ to swap Lawson with Tsunoda

👉 All the mid-season driver swaps Red Bull have made in their F1 history

While Lawson struggled with the step up to a team operating at the sharp end of the grid in Red Bull, Antonelli meanwhile has made an impressive start to life at Mercedes as a teenage F1 rookie.

As Chandhok referenced, Mercedes put Antonelli through an extensive testing programme using past F1 machinery during 2024, alongside his rookie campaign in the Formula 2 championship.

And Chandhok’s Sky F1 colleague Bernie Collins – the former McLaren senior performance engineer and Aston Martin strategy chief – recently questioned why Red Bull did not follow a similar path with Lawson.

The New Zealander had 11 grands prix under his belt – earned in two stints with the Red Bull junior team across 2023/2024 – ahead of getting the call-up to the senior team.

“We’ve talked a lot about Kimi Antonelli,” Collins explained, “the testing that he’s done in that Mercedes. If he was doing the same test in the Williams or the Mercedes-engine car, it’s not giving him the same thing.

“We’ve spoken about how the Red Bull is really tricky to drive. It’s a very specific car. It’s not the same as the Racing Bulls.

“What I’d love to know, what we should have asked Christian [Horner, Red Bull team principal] is, why did Red Bull not do a similar program to Mercedes with Liam Lawson, or whoever is going to be in the second seat?

“Why was he not doing 60 test days last year in a four-year-old Red Bull?

“It’s going to have the same characteristics. There’s no cost cap limit in that.

“He could have stepped into the car in a much, much stronger position than he currently is.”

With Lawson returning to Racing Bulls, it means Tsunoda will make his Red Bull debut in front of his home fans at the Japanese Grand Prix.

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