Max Verstappen has suggested his Red Bull Formula 1 team needs to focus on fixing its troubled 2025 car rather than worry about the identity of his team-mate.
After two difficult weekends alongside Verstappen, Red Bull has demoted Liam Lawson to Racing Bulls, with Yuki Tsunoda moving in the other direction from this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.
While Red Bull has the remit to move its four drivers around across the two teams it owns, and has done so in the past, handing Lawson just two rounds to adapt has been felt as particularly cruel by colleagues and observers.
Former F1 driver Giedo van der Garde likened Red Bull’s approach to “bullying” on his Instagram profile. “Yes, you gotta perform. Yes, the pressure is insane. But in my opinion this comes closer to bullying or a panic move than actual high athlete achievements,” he wrote. “They made a decision – fully aware – gave Liam two races only to crush his spirit.”
The post was liked by Verstappen, who according to driver advisor Helmut Marko disagreed with the decision to swap drivers. And while the Dutchman didn’t want to expand too much on his own opinion, he said he didn’t interact with Van der Garde’s message by mistake and felt Red Bull’s main focus should be on the drivability and performance of its difficult 2025 car.
“Well, I liked the text, so I guess that speaks for itself, right? It was not a mistake,” he said. “My reaction was shared with the team, but in general. Not only the swap, but about everything. We discussed that already during the last race weekend and back at the factory.”
When asked if he agreed with the decision, he responded: “Sometimes it’s not necessary to always share everything in public.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Liam Lawson, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
“I think our main issue is that our car is not where we want it to be. Everyone knows that within the team as well and that’s what I focus on, to be honest. Because as soon as the car is more competitive and more drivable in general, then I think even in the second car it will come to you anyway a bit more naturally.
“Liam did 11 races or something in total [before 2025] but over a different period of time. And I think for rookies the beginning of the season is very tough, because most of these tracks they haven’t really driven on, or they merely have a sprint weekend. So all these scenarios don’t help.”
Verstappen, who spent time in Red Bull’s UK factory to have a deep dive with the team’s engineers into his car’s problems, said there isn’t just one issue that is causing the RB21 to become unstable and lack balance.
“It is a little bit more nervous, a little bit more unstable in different corner phases,” the Dutchman explained. “I think it’s a combination of a lot of things. It depends also on the corner speed, the tarmac, tyres, overheating, bumps, kerbs. Some tracks are more limiting than others. Some issues are easier to solve than others. Everyone is trying their hardest to make the car faster.”
Verstappen heads into the Japan weekend second in the standings after grabbing second in Australia’s rain-affected race and salvaging fourth in China, but he still believes McLaren is “comfortably ahead” and will be hard to catch.
“Every track is a bit different, but at the moment, they are quite comfortably ahead,” the four-time world champion said. “Never say never. We come to every race trying to get the best out of the car but at the moment, I don’t think – even if we optimise our performance – that is enough. But we keep working.
“We’re trying to have the performance coming this year still, but if it’s going to be enough to beat McLaren it’s very difficult to say, because the others are also improving.”
Additional reporting by Erwin Jaeggi
