Max Verstappen setting off ‘alarm bells’ at Red Bull ahead of Liam Lawson to Yuki Tsunoda swap

Red Bull currently sit third in the constructors’ championship and Max Verstappen is just eight points off Lando Norris in the drivers’ standings.

However, it wouldn’t be an understatement to suggest that Red Bull are in turmoil right now, just races into the 2025 season.

Max Verstappen may have recorded a 2nd place finish at the Australian Grand Prix, but he left Shanghai not knowing how hard he could push the RB21 on its tyres and complaining about the same narrow performance window that hampered last year’s car.

His new teammate Liam Lawson looks set not to be his new teammate for very much longer.

Lawson has struggled to understand this year’s Red Bull to such an extent that an immediate driver change is on the cards.

Yuki Tsunoda is expected to replace Lawson as soon as the Japanese Grand Prix, which will delight his fans at Suzuka, but put even more pressure on the 24-year-old and Red Bull.

It’s a decision they can’t afford to get wrong as there is a distinct lack of alternatives available to Christian Horner and Helmut Marko if the Japanese driver doesn’t step up.

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Red Bull ‘alarm bells’ ringing amid Max Verstappen complaints and Liam Lawson demotion

A report from the Italian outlet Autoracer has shared more details about what’s happening at Red Bull’s Milton Keynes factory.

Max Verstappen is working behind the scenes to solve the problems with the RB21, but it’s yet to be seen if what’s causing the car’s issues is an easy fix.

The report states that Lawson’s struggles have ‘rekindled alarm bells’ that were set off by Sergio Perez’s dramatic fall from grace last season.

Lawson made his frustration clear after the race in China and echoed many of the concerns Verstappen had voiced earlier in the weekend.

Technical director Pierre Wache believes that while Verstappen’s input is proving to be a ‘big help’, it’s also a limiting factor in diagnosing the problem.

His ability to extract performance out of the car is hiding some of the main problems that Lawson and Perez faced and could quite easily compromise Tsunoda.

Red Bull’s engineers apologised to Perez last year for not listening to his concerns early enough.

However, there have also been suggestions that Perez’s input on Red Bull’s car wasn’t always forthcoming, which may be why the team leaned on Verstappen’s feedback, amplifying the problems Lawson has faced in Australia and China.

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Max Verstappen’s camp might be considering a future away from Red Bull

Red Bull are at a turning point in their Formula 1 history as Lawson’s struggles only continue to demonstrate the lack of planning that stems back from Daniel Ricciardo leaving to join Renault in 2019.

Pierre Gasly was only given half a season to make an impression before being demoted in place of Alex Albon, who had just 12 Grand Prix starts to his name.

Neither Red Bull academy graduates were deemed up to the required level and so Perez had to be brought in from outside the group to steady the ship.

However, in the four years he was with the team, Tsunoda didn’t do enough to convince Horner he was the man for the job and so the gamble was taken on Lawson.

If the Japanese driver fails to get close enough to Verstappen, then Horner and Marko are out of viable options, which seems all the more ridiculous when Red Bull didn’t pursue Carlos Sainz after he lost his seat at Ferrari to Lewis Hamilton.

Max Verstappen’s camp has been in contact with one of Red Bull’s rivals recently, suggesting that their faith in the team is beginning to waver.

If he decides to move on, then it’s hard to see where the team goes from here.