Welcome to Friday’s edition of the RaceFans round-up.
Comment of the day
After yesterday’s shock announcement the key question is will Yuki Tsunoda fare any better at Red Bull – and last any longer – than Liam Lawson did?
I feel bad for Tsunoda right now. This ‘opportunity’ is an absolute poisoned chalice and his first race in the car is in front of his home fans. Poor guy.
That said, if he survives this, I’ll be seriously impressed. But the problem seems to be with the car and the organisation, not the drivers, so I don’t fancy his chances. Max’s outstanding abilities appear to be masking the real issue and while that isn’t a fault of Max’s, it isn’t helping anyone. At least Horner’s acknowledged the car issue by saying “there is a lot of work to be done with the RB21”, so maybe there’s hope for Yuki yet? @MalRoss
''As fake security, we had the freedom to do whatever we wanted, so we checked out a few spots only we could make it to,' the voice says in the TikTok, from the account Trissy Pranks.'
'The number 26 entry (Colton Herta, Andretti) has been fined $25,000 and will forfeit 10 championship entrant points and all prize money associated with the race at The Thermal Club.'
'The Herald understands Honda pays Red Bull an annual eight-figure sum to have Tsunoda in the team, with speculation of a further incentive payment for this grand prix. Whether or not a further payment has been made to formalise this switch is yet to be confirmed.'
'The problem is that Verstappen, the one man who matters above all others in the Red Bull universe, is said not to agree with Lawson’s abrupt dismissal. And you can see his logic, with his team’s exposing themselves to ridicule by refusing to retain the Kiwi even for a fortnight'
'The Spaniard was 0.282s clear of Louis Sharp in second, the Rodin Motorsport driver showing good pace having also ended with the quickest time in the morning segment.'
Easy solution to this Red Bull driver nonsense is to not let them have two teams… you have to invest in your drivers. Gasly has won GPs, Albon is doing well against Sainz, Buemi and Hartley are multiple world champions and LM winners. I sense the fault is not with the drivers.
Honda may have been paying Red Bull for Tsunoda’s presence in the organization since 2021, but of course, all that will be gone once the PU supply ends, which is another conflicting factor why I struggle to see Tsunoda having a chance to continue in the Red Bull organization beyond the current season’s end in any case (or receiving a Cadillac drive, for that matter), even if his Honda affiliation is only about sponsorship these days.
Keith’s tweet: Ikr, I’m one of those who predicted Colapinto replacing Doohan as the first (& only) in-season driver change, so already one I got wrong & I’ll probably also get my WDC & WCC predictions wrong, not that they were necessarily meant as fully serious ones, but rather based on a hope that Ferrari would get their act together & Hamilton benefit from it the most.
I couldn’t agree more with Simon Strang (I’ve never heard about him, though) that Red Bull should sell their second team & solely focus on a single team.
In f1 you may only get one chance. One race. You turn it down and no one comes knocking and you will regret it for the rest of your life. Yuki has a free hit pretty obviously, he fails, its the car, he succeeds, hes got the seat
I fully expect both RBs to qualify and finish ahead of Tsunoda in Japan, but if Tsunoda does manage to get something out of the Redbull I’d be pleasantly surprised.
It might be some late 90s nostalgia, but seeing Button in that McLaren reminds me how cool the high noses could look. Could, because there were also some big no-nos.
As for Tsunoda, if he puts the car in the back of the top 10 while Verstappen is around P4 it won’t be a bad result. It’s his only chance to stay on the grid in 2026, too. Honda probably won’t be able to get him in at Aston Martin.
The contrast from last week’s disqualifications of the Ferraris and one Alpine and the Indycar DQ mentioned on Herta’s car is interesting. I feel like Indycar’s punishment is pretty robust.
A point reduction in Indycar is less meaningful than in F1 though, as they give points to literally everyone.
There’s definitely some merit to having actual penalties on top of disqualifications. But especially when the technical infringements are as minuscule and unintended as at Shanghai, it seems overdone. Whereas Andretti seems to have violated safety-related instructions by the chassis supplier, which is a bit more serious.
Is this article supposed to be clickbait? The headline refers to a social media stunt, but the article has no explanation of what this stunt was. The article is little more than links. I clicked on the first one which goes to some publication I’ve never heard of, The Age, and that says I need to subscribe to read the article. But hey, you forced me to see a few adverts along the way, and that’s all that matters really isn’t it.
Jere (@jerejj)
28th March 2025, 6:39
Honda may have been paying Red Bull for Tsunoda’s presence in the organization since 2021, but of course, all that will be gone once the PU supply ends, which is another conflicting factor why I struggle to see Tsunoda having a chance to continue in the Red Bull organization beyond the current season’s end in any case (or receiving a Cadillac drive, for that matter), even if his Honda affiliation is only about sponsorship these days.
Keith’s tweet: Ikr, I’m one of those who predicted Colapinto replacing Doohan as the first (& only) in-season driver change, so already one I got wrong & I’ll probably also get my WDC & WCC predictions wrong, not that they were necessarily meant as fully serious ones, but rather based on a hope that Ferrari would get their act together & Hamilton benefit from it the most.
I couldn’t agree more with Simon Strang (I’ve never heard about him, though) that Red Bull should sell their second team & solely focus on a single team.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
28th March 2025, 13:08
In f1 you may only get one chance. One race. You turn it down and no one comes knocking and you will regret it for the rest of your life. Yuki has a free hit pretty obviously, he fails, its the car, he succeeds, hes got the seat
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
28th March 2025, 9:28
I fully expect both RBs to qualify and finish ahead of Tsunoda in Japan, but if Tsunoda does manage to get something out of the Redbull I’d be pleasantly surprised.
MichaelN
28th March 2025, 11:31
It might be some late 90s nostalgia, but seeing Button in that McLaren reminds me how cool the high noses could look. Could, because there were also some big no-nos.
As for Tsunoda, if he puts the car in the back of the top 10 while Verstappen is around P4 it won’t be a bad result. It’s his only chance to stay on the grid in 2026, too. Honda probably won’t be able to get him in at Aston Martin.
Robert Williams (@weiliwen)
28th March 2025, 17:03
The contrast from last week’s disqualifications of the Ferraris and one Alpine and the Indycar DQ mentioned on Herta’s car is interesting. I feel like Indycar’s punishment is pretty robust.
MichaelN
28th March 2025, 19:22
A point reduction in Indycar is less meaningful than in F1 though, as they give points to literally everyone.
There’s definitely some merit to having actual penalties on top of disqualifications. But especially when the technical infringements are as minuscule and unintended as at Shanghai, it seems overdone. Whereas Andretti seems to have violated safety-related instructions by the chassis supplier, which is a bit more serious.
AlanD
30th March 2025, 0:59
Is this article supposed to be clickbait? The headline refers to a social media stunt, but the article has no explanation of what this stunt was. The article is little more than links. I clicked on the first one which goes to some publication I’ve never heard of, The Age, and that says I need to subscribe to read the article. But hey, you forced me to see a few adverts along the way, and that’s all that matters really isn’t it.