Max Verstappen should worry about Red Bull promoting Yuki Tsunoda at Japanese Grand Prix for one key reason

Max Verstappen will have his sixth different Red Bull teammate at the Japanese Grand Prix as Yuki Tsunoda makes his debut.

The 24-year-old has had to wait four years to get his shot with the Milton Keynes-based outfit. Tsunoda was snubbed by Racing Bulls teammate Liam Lawson for the second Red Bull seat over the winter.

This seemingly left the Japanese driver with the Faenza outfit for a fifth season, which would probably have been his last. Tsunoda would likely be heading to Cadillac had he not been promoted to Red Bull.

However, he has been given his chance ahead of his home Grand Prix at the expense of Lawson. The New Zealander has been demoted back to Racing Bulls after failing to reach Q1 or score a point in the opening two races of 2025.

Lawson lost confidence in the RB21 as he struggled to handle the sensitive nature of its setup. In contrast, Tsunoda has impressed in the simulator ahead of his debut, even stating that he did not find the car difficult to drive.

The 24-year-old could not ask for a better debut at Red Bull than the Japanese Grand Prix and he will be keen to grab a strong result. While he may not be expected to beat Verstappen, one stat going into the race should worry the four-time champion.

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Yuki Tsunoda has never been outqualified by his teammate at the Japanese Grand Prix

The home hero is coming into Suzuka with confidence. Tsunoda has ignored Christian Horner’s advice to Lawson about staying calm as he is targeting a podium – no Japanese driver has achieved that since Kamui Kobayashi in 2012 with Sauber.

With his track record at the circuit, Tsunoda has every reason to be confident. In his three appearances at Suzuka in F1 – he did not race there in his rookie season in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic – he has never been outqualified by his teammate.

In 2022, Tsunoda beat Pierre Gasly at then AlphaTauri, reaching Q2 while the Frenchman was knocked out in Q1. The 24-year-old went just under three tenths of a second quicker than his teammate to reach Q2, with his time that got him P13 being half a second faster than Gasly.

Tsunoda reached Q3 in 2023, beating – ironically – Lawson, who was standing in for the injured Daniel Ricciardo. The Kiwi driver was quicker in Q1 but failed to reach Q3 as Tsunoda’s time in the final part of qualifying was two tenths faster – slower than his Q2 time.

Ricciardo came close to beating Tsunoda in 2024 as the Aussie missed out on Q3 to his RB teammate by just 65 thousandths of a second. The Japanese driver’s unbeaten record in qualifying at Suzuka should stand a warning for Verstappen.

The Dutchman does also have an impressive record at the circuit, but he has been outqualified on two occasions (2015 by Carlos Sainz at Toro Rosso and 2017 by Ricciardo at Red Bull). Tsunoda will want to make an impression this weekend and his qualifying record suggests Verstappen will not have it easy.

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Max Verstappen has never lost to his teammate when he has finished the Japanese Grand Prix

While Tsunoda will want to have a strong weekend in Red Bull colours, he will naturally be playing second fiddle to his teammate.

Horner has given a ‘very direct’ warning to Tsunoda that Verstappen is the team’s main priority. They will hope the Dutchman can achieve a strong result at Suzuka – and his history at the track suggests he will.

Besides his only retirement in Japan in 2019, Verstappen has never been beaten by his teammate. Of the Japanese GP he has finished, the 27-year-old has finished off the podium once – his debut season in 2015.

Verstappen has won the last three events in Japan on the spin, although the RB21 is not capable of winning a race at this stage. But the four-time champion has been extracting the maximum out of his machine thus far and will be expected to do it again, even with pressure from Tsunoda.