Between mentality, potential and Yuki Tsunoda being the “spearhead” of Racing Bulls, Liam Lawson is the right fit for Red Bull.

That is the claim made by Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko, who explained their belief that Lawson is better prepared over Tsunoda to handle the Max Verstappen challenge, while Tsunoda becomes the lead driver of Racing Bulls.

Red Bull reel off Liam Lawson over Yuki Tsunoda reasons

After Sergio Perez announced his Red Bull Racing departure off the back of a woeful 2024 campaign, the team looked within their own ranks to promote Lawson – with just 11 grands prix contested – over Tsunoda with four seasons of experience accumulated with the B-team.

The decision sparked great debate amongst the F1 fanbase, but Marko has moved to explain in detail why this driver decision makes sense, with Lawson the next racer to try keep his head above water alongside the four-time World Champion Verstappen.

“With his mental strength, Lawson is the one who is most likely to be able to hold his own alongside Max, and nobody can beat him at the moment anyway,” Marko told Kleine Zeitung.

“Due to his limited Grand Prix experience, we also see him as having the greatest potential for further development.

“The decision was certainly disappointing for him [Tsunoda]. His speed is undisputed, but he lacks a certain consistency and is also a very emotional driver.

“The overall package was just right for Lawson, but Yuki Tsunoda is the spearhead of the Racing Bulls.”

Lawson’s promotion opened the door for Isack Hadjar to secure a spot on the F1 2025 grid, off the back of narrowly missing out on the Formula 2 title to Gabriel Bortoleto, who he will share next season’s F1 grid with as Bortoleto joins Sauber.

Like Tsunoda – even if the Japanese racer has shown clear improvement in his team radio temperament – Hadjar also has a reputation for being fiery with his use of the radio, which Marko says could cause a headache for the sister Red Bull team.

“He is a very fast but also very impulsive driver, so that could be interesting for the team,” said Marko on Hadjar.

“With the promotion, however, we have once again clearly focussed on promoting drivers from our own Red Bull junior team. I am sure that this is the right way to go and Hadjar will confirm this.”

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Hadjar has already caught the eye of Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, who said the Frenchman “turned heads” by going half a tenth faster than Tsunoda when both drove the Red Bull RB20 in the Abu Dhabi post-season test.

“Isack is another talent. He’s quick. He jumped in the car, he was faster than Yuki in the test last week, which turned heads,” Horner revealed.

“He’s definitely a raw talent and needs a little bit of polishing, but he has the speed.

“He was unfortunate in Formula 2 to miss out at the last race due to technical glitches with start line software, from what I understand.

“But he’s impressed as well, particularly with his speed. It will be interesting to see how things pan out.”

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