Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko doubled down on the acknowledgement that Max Verstappen did not back their decision to demote Liam Lawson.

That being said, Marko has issued a new update, claiming that Verstappen, while not happy, “understands the situation” surrounding Red Bull’s move.

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Lawson was afforded just two rounds of the F1 2025 campaign before Red Bull decided to send him back to Racing Bulls, a clean sweep of Q1 exits and absence of points sealing his fate, with Red Bull calling-up Yuki Tsunoda as his replacement in a straight swap.

In the immediate aftermath of that decision, Marko confirmed rumours that Verstappen was “not happy” about the decision which Red Bull had made, and the Red Bull senior advisor and driver programme boss returned to this topic in conversation with OE24.

“He has made it clear that Lawson was replaced too early, but he also understands the situation,” said Marko on Verstappen.

Tsunoda becomes the latest driver to take on the Verstappen challenge, the four-time World Champion having become something of a Red Bull team-mate killer.

But in terms of inter-team dynamics, Marko expects Verstappen and Tsunoda will be fine.

“He will get on very well with his new team-mate,” Marko predicted about Verstappen. “Yuki is very cooperative and easy to get on with.

“The two have already taken part in various Red Bull events together and everything has always worked perfectly.”

And this is a Red Bull move which Marko thinks sets Lawson up for future success in F1, explaining both he and team principal Christian Horner were aligned on the call.

“It was ultimately the logical decision in terms of the Constructors’ Championship, and we made it together,” said Marko.

“Lawson now has a great chance of a successful career in Formula 1 in a car that is easier to drive.”

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Horner has also weighed in on Verstappen’s reaction to Red Bull’s Lawson decision, giving a similar account to Marko’s.

“I think he was surprised at the speed,” Horner told Sky F1. “But he could also see how much Liam was struggling.

“He knows where we need to improve on the car. He’s been working really hard with the engineering team.

“We had a very good session with him last week where he’s just very focused on improving the car, finding those final few tenths to get us really on terms with the McLarens ahead.”

Verstappen was acknowledged as the undisputed Red Bull number one driver going into F1 2025 as he chases a fifth straight Drivers’ title, something which Tsunoda himself has admitted remains the case despite his arrival with four-and-a-bit years of F1 experience.

However, he also opened up on a promise that came his way from Horner in regards to team orders.

“In the end Red Bull Racing are focused on Max scoring a Drivers’ Championship,” Tsunoda told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“He has proven himself to have good potential to be a World Champion – even though Red Bull seems to be struggling a little now.

“Performance-wise, [Horner] wants me to be as close to Max as possible.

“In some races I can help with the strategy but he also promised me in some situations that if I’m able to be in front of Max that he wouldn’t necessarily ask me to swap positions and make Max win.”

Verstappen sits P2 in the early Drivers’ Championship standings, eight points behind McLaren’s Lando Norris, while in the Constructors’, Red Bull are P3 and 42 points off McLaren in top spot.

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