Helmut Marko has shared his impressions of the two leading candidates to succeed Sergio Perez at Red Bull for F1 2025.

With Sergio Perez and Red Bull negotiating over the nature of the Mexican’s future with the Milton Keynes-based squad, team advisor Helmut Marko has shared his views on prospective replacements Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda.

Helmut Marko compares and contrasts Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda

If Red Bull do decide to part ways with Sergio Perez as a racing driver for next season, the plan is to promote from within and turn to one of the drivers who raced with the sister squad Racing Bulls to round out F1 2024.

Lawson is understood to be the leading candidate, despite his inexperience – the Kiwi driver has completed just 11 races in Formula 1, while Tsunoda has completed his fourth season with the Faenza-based outfit since making his debut with the then-AlphaTauri team in 2021.

Tsunoda impressed during 2024 by keeping Racing Bulls in contention for sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship while Daniel Ricciardo struggled for pace and performance, before the Australian was replaced by Lawson for the final six races of the year.

Lawson scored points in two of those six races, and it’s in his mental toughness that Red Bull sees plenty of potential for him to succeed alongside Max Verstappen, if the Kiwi does get the nod to jump into the Red Bull RB21 for F1 2025.

Speaking in an interview with Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko shared his thoughts on the two contenders as talks with Perez continue – the Austrian confirming a decision is likely to be made regarding the driver line-ups at the two Red Bull teams over the coming days.

“Liam Lawson reminds me of Bruce McLaren or Denny Hulme, quite down-to-earth and mentally strong,’ Marko said, referring to the successful compatriots of Lawson – both of whom raced in Formula 1 over 50 years ago.

“Yuki is incredibly fast, but not consistent. We saw that in Mexico, for example. And he is rather undisciplined for a Japanese driver, although that has improved.”

Tsunoda had the opportunity to drive the Red Bull RB20 at the Pirelli tyre test last week at Yas Marina, with his fastest time some two-tenths down on Liam Lawson’s best in the VCARB. While Tsunoda is believed to have impressed Red Bull during the outing, it’s understood Lawson’s performance was met with greater approval.

Speaking in his weekly column for Speedweek, Marko revealed Red Bull was happy with Tsunoda’s performance in the test: “Yuki Tsunoda was allowed out on track in the RB20 during post-season testing and the team was happy with his technical feedback. In this respect, he is far better than he is rumoured to be. He is just one of many talents we have in our ranks.”

It’s Tsunoda’s temperament which is giving Red Bull pause about his potential – his self-admitted radio outbursts have hinted at a temper kept barely in check, although Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer told PlanetF1.com earlier this year that the Japanese driver is much improved in this regard.

“He has improved by 1,000 percent on that,” Bayer said.

“There is so little of that outrage that he [had] because he understood.

“He understood that every ‘F’ is costing him a tenth. It’s so tight, and those distractions are… that costs you a tenth.

“And the tenth decides between P9 and P13. Yuki knows, and he’s there.”

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Tsunoda has also been quite open in the past about being apathetic about physical training – another area in which he’s had to improve – this was helped by former AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost insisting on Tsunoda moving to Faenza to be kept on a tighter leash to aid his development.

As for Lawson, when asked by PlanetF1.com after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix whether Lawson has passed his audition for F1 2025, as the Kiwi waits to see whether he has secured a seat with Red Bull or Racing Bulls, Christian Horner praised both drivers.

“I think Liam, in challenging circumstances, he’s done a very good job,” Horner said.

“If you analyse what he’s done, in the time that he’s had and the race pace that he’s had, I think he’s done a good job.”

Tsunoda, who outscored Lawson in that same six-race period thanks to a seventh place in Sao Paulo, also earned the praise of Horner.

“I think Yuki has done a good job [too],” Horner said.

“So, in the event that anything we decide with Checo, [they’ll] be the candidates, obviously, that we’ll look towards.”

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