“I think the pace was there”: Did Tsunoda’s race justify Red Bull’s Lawson swap?

40 comments on ““I think the pace was there”: Did Tsunoda’s race justify Red Bull’s Lawson swap?”

1. 

   Patrick (@paeschli)
   7th April 2025, 12:28

   Why didn’t they start Tsunoda on the hards to go long in the first stint and get some running in clean air after the first round of pitstops?
   1. 

      BasCB (@bascb)
      8th April 2025, 7:32

      It seems nobody really expected the tyre deg to be this low and thought there would be some opportunities to pass? But I agree that if his results were meh, that is as much down to the team as to Tsunoda just not being able to get that last drop of pace out of the Red Bull, certainly not consistently, and not without having more experience with it (just like pretty much anyone but Max it seems)
2. 

   David
   7th April 2025, 12:28

   A poor Q2 ruined his weekend but there were signs that his raw pace is much closer to Max, whereas Lawson never looked close to Max at any point.

   Bahrain should be a good opportunity to demonstrate that pace, and even if he qualifies out of position, it should be a slightly better track for working his way up the field.

   So a disappointing first result but plenty of opportunity for the future.

   This shouldn’t be about Lawson vs. Tsunoda after the seat swap – but it’s worth adding that Lawson was poor at Suzuka. Outqualified and actually dropping off the cars in front of him rather than keeping up.
3. 

   An Sionnach
   7th April 2025, 12:33

   I still feel sorry for Liam. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), Hadjar is putting in excellent performances, so Liam’s going to have to show what he can do and earn his way back into that car. Hadjar’s raw pace looks formidable.

   Promising from Tsunoda. Even in the other team he had two qualifying modes: pretty much as fast as the car would go or he (and/or the team) might make some mistake and leave some time on the track. I think he has the pace, though.
   1. 

      Dex
      7th April 2025, 18:06

      I don’t feel sorry. He’s not one of the 20 fastest guys for sure, yet he’s got his place in F1. This was a traumatic experience for sure, but he should still consider himself very lucky indeed. Let’s not forget that he didn’t shine in F2 and that he lost his battles in F1 so far. So far he’s having a good life, at least professionally. Red Bull were cruel to him, but his pace was so terrible that there’s no way he’d stay there for long anyway. That was Mazepin territory at best.
4. 

   Jere (@jerejj)
   7th April 2025, 13:01

   Maybe somewhat justified based on potential raw pace, but ultimately, Tsunoda didn’t fare much better in comparison, so if he also fails to reach Q3 & finish in the points in Bahrain, something more fundamental would even more clearly be behind this recurring Red Bull theme.
   What’s even worse is that Hadjar made look both Tsunoda & Lawson bad, so if he regularly finishes the highest among this trio, I don’t know what to think about the situation anymore.
   1. 

      An Sionnach
      7th April 2025, 13:23

      Hadjar looks the most promising of the lot. I think they should take care putting him in the Red Bull too soon. I don’t think Tsunoda can be moved this year as it would cause trouble with Honda. I’m not sure if this was a factor in the Lawson-Tsunoda decision last year – that only by trying Lawson first could they swap them around if things went disastrously wrong?

      I still think they should have given Liam Japan, and, by extension, the triple header. It looked very unlikely that he was going to improve that much, though, and they had a significant downgrade from Pérez.
      1. 

         Coventry Climax
         8th April 2025, 11:33

         “the most promising”

         We’ve been there before, and multiple times already. And everytime that ‘most promising’ one get’s the drive, he’s ditched by both Red Bull themselves as well as the people commenting here, and about as fast as you can say ‘oh dear’.
         The only exception was Perez, for whatever reason, with his performances certainly no part of that.
5. 

   Le Jimster (@lejimster82)
   7th April 2025, 13:13

   I feel like a broken record, but Lawson would have done better with more time in the RB21. Tsunoda likewise needs more time in the car and looks like he will at least see the season out so he will improve.
   1. 

      Esploratore (@esploratore1)
      7th April 2025, 14:18

      Yes, but improve to what level? Red bull said they didn’t have the time for lawson to get up to speed, and also sometimes drivers get worse at red bull, it happened to albon and perez, who didn’t start badly.
      1. 

         Seppo (@helava)
         7th April 2025, 17:22

         I think the difference is, if true, money from Honda gives Tsunoda time.

         Basically, if Lawson takes 1/2 the season to get up to speed, and Red Bull drops positions in the WCC, it has huge financial repercussions for the team. If Tsunoda takes 1/2 the season to get up to speed, Red Bull drops positions in the WCC, they *still get $20M from Honda*, which covers the gap. If he gets up to speed faster, they get the prize money *and* Honda $.

         It’d be nice if this was all just race pace, and that was all that mattered, but I think Red Bull realized that *no* driver was going to get to terms with the car instantly, and realized that if Honda was willing to cover “learning time” with money, it was their only way to mitigate the risk.
         1. 

            Coventry Climax
            8th April 2025, 11:36

            exactly

            But either way, it shows slow decision making and poor management.
6. 

   Leroy (@g-funk)
   7th April 2025, 13:13

   While there were encouraging signs for Yuki, and he should have been in the Red Bull seat from the beginning of the year, if the goal of punting Liam and replacing him with Yuki was to give the team more strategic options for Max, this weekend doesn’t seem to add anything to that conversation. The only thing it proved is that the Red Bull is too difficult for any person other than Max to drive at its peak performance level. Max put in a champion’s drive, McLaren weren’t really able to challenge him (either because their tyre management suffered or because they didn’t want to take strategic gambles), and there really was no need for Yuki to provide more strategic options. We’ll have to see in future races if Yuki can be used more strategically than Liam.
   1. 

      Esploratore (@esploratore1)
      7th April 2025, 14:19

      Any person other than verstappen is exaggerated, they didn’t try another top driver, those are usually able to do that.
      1. 

         Coventry Climax
         8th April 2025, 11:53

         That’s how the saga goes.
         Then on the occasion that there is a top driver in another car, the excuse usually is it doesn’t suit his driving style.

         Hamilton doing reasonably well may just as well prove the Merc and Ferrari aren’t all that different in filosophy and characteristics, while Ricciardo in a McLaren maybe proved those cars differ like day and night. Vettel was not a shadow of his former self, for whatever reasons, when he switched from Red Bull to Ferrari.

         Would Verstappen do well in a Ferrari, Merc or McLaren? Racing-wise, as far as agressiveness and race craft, maybe, you can never be sure, but I do consider Norris a soft boiled egg in that respect. But as for being able to deal with the different characteristics? Noone can tell unless it actually happens that Hamilton or Leclerc or whomever joins Max in the same team – whatever team.
         1. 

            RH
            8th April 2025, 19:12

            Who even expects Hamilton to come close to Leclerc this year? Let alone Verstappen.

            Yes he won an one off sprint and if the car is good he may win Silverstone and Hungary. Beyond that he will mostly be behind Leclerc at almost all tracks. Excuses stories and everything will simply keep polluting and the cycle of sabotage will ensue.

            A tale as old as time.

            Hamilton hasn’t driven at Verstappen’s level in about 7 years now. He will be a very good number two though, but not worth paying 50 million a year for that.

            Sainz looks bad next to Albon. Albon looked like he couldn’t drive a car next to Max.

            The cycle continues. And sainz was closer to Leclerc than he is to Alex so far.
7. 

   David BR (@david-br)
   7th April 2025, 13:22

   Doubly justified, Tsunoda did better (above a very low bar set by Lawson) and more importantly showed glimpses of near-Max pace. If he can get the car into Q3 and stay upfield during the race, job done for Red Bull I guess. Pérez-style going out in Q1 and Q2 is not what they want. And Lawson also did better, his confidence back. It’s the way round it should have been this season, finally allowing Tsunoda a chance in the A team while Lawson and Hadjar gain experience (though the latter is looking a better future prospect).
   1. 

      Coventry Climax
      8th April 2025, 11:57

      That Lawson would ‘set a very low bar’ over the first two races was well known, discussed, documented, sealed and filed way in advance. 11 races experience total, never raced the first two tracks before.
      Tsunoda however, three years of experience, fully familiar with the circuit an still didn’t get anywhere.

      So, doubly justified? That’s a matter of perspective.
8. 

   Edvaldo
   7th April 2025, 13:35

   It was an obvious improvement. Now there’s a proper track for him to unleash the speed of the car (unfortunately, Suzuka has become one of the worst tracks for the racing itself) and justify the swap for good.
   1. 

      Esploratore (@esploratore1)
      7th April 2025, 16:01

      Yes, but it’s time for him to deliver now, he needs to reach q3, not to do better than lawson ofc, q2 will do for that, but to prove he’s a capable red bull driver.
      1. 

         Edvaldo
         7th April 2025, 16:31

         Baby steps. If he does a Perez 2024 and qualifies 8th and finishes 8th, it will be good enough for now.
         Then we can expect improvements later. If he performs well I can see Red Bull extending his deal, as i don’t even think they’ll have Lawson back and after what happened to him, won’t make the same mistake of sending Hadjar to the grinder early.
         1. 

            Coventry Climax
            8th April 2025, 12:01

            And expect him to then ‘improve’ like Perez as well?
            Red Bull have made that ‘grinder’ mistake often enough before, and I see no signs of them not doing it again.
9. 

   Esploratore (@esploratore1)
   7th April 2025, 14:22

   Now I think about it, some people thought red bull were never gonna give tsunoda a chance, but they ended up surprisingly putting him in the seat, showing that they try to take performance-based decisions, even though they made a lot of mistakes that way too (letting sainz and alonso sign for other teams).
   1. 

      RH
      8th April 2025, 19:13

      Alonso is valid but Sainz isn’t looking any good.
10. 

    Levente (@leventebandi)
    7th April 2025, 14:25

    When even Mr. Marko says they saw the pace they are looking for, there is nothing to really argue about, more so that we don’t have as much data as they have.
    The amount of work going into this articcle should have been used for something betger
    1. 

       SteveR (@stever)
       7th April 2025, 18:15

       Agreed. Pretty much a puff piece.
11. 

    Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
    7th April 2025, 15:06

    For his first outing in what is described by many as a “Cursed Car” I think he did fine.
    I’m expecting (certainly hoping) that both Yuki and Liam will both improve over the next few races.

    If Yuki can just consistently reach Q2 or better, and grab a few points now and again, then that will still be better than the farce we have had to suffer for the last couple of seasons (no disrespect to Liam there – the poor lad wasn’t really given a chance)
    1. 

       Coventry Climax
       8th April 2025, 12:12

       That’s OK, we all know who that disrespect goes to, and rightly so.

       We will never know however, how Lawson would have fared in the Red Bull, on a circuit he actually knows, with the tombola of new tarmac, the pity-relli’s and cool weather. As it turned out, a bit of luck in qualifying would have sufficed already to end the race higher too. Then guess what everybody would have said.
12. 

    StefMeister (@stefmeister)
    7th April 2025, 15:11

    To jump in the car and be as close to Max’s pace in FP1 was encouraging and I think that as well as his pace in FP3 & then Q1 shows signs that he’s been able to figure out how to drive around the basic characteristics of the car quicker than Liam did and also did a better job adapting to them than Liam did.

    Without what was a fairly small error in Q2 he almost certainly would have had the speed to make Q3 & while he most likely would not have been able to drag the performance out of the car which Max did and been able to challenge for the front row I think a top 6 grid position was possible and from there I think good points would have been on the table.

    So I think the early signs are encouraging and suggest that the swap was the right call & that Yuki probably would have been the better choice to begin with.
    1. 

       Esploratore (@esploratore1)
       7th April 2025, 15:59

       That’s good, but I remain skeptical until I see him actually make q3, too many times the 2nd driver at red bull has been eliminated in q1 and 2 the last few years and then at a track like this (or monaco, singapore, hungary perhaps) the race is basically over.
    2. 

       Coventry Climax
       8th April 2025, 12:16

       Verstappen is know for doing unusal things, just to get the parameters in and make an informed decision later. Tsunoda being close in FP1 means precisely nothing.
13. 

    Martin (@f1hornet)
    7th April 2025, 15:54

    Given Yuki hasn’t had as much testing and practice in the car as Liam, I think performing at a similar level is decent for now. However, unless he improves over the course of the season to at least regularly get into the lower end of the points, I think he would be gone for 2026. By then, Lawson will have had more experience under his belt and/or Hadjar will be a viable option.
14. 

    Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
    7th April 2025, 16:09

    A slightly better lap would’ve put him in Q3 and surely he’d have scored points from there. It’s all down to preparation and experience on this car, because he had pace in hand.

    Just goes to show the double damage Red Bull did to their own drivers by not picking Yuki last year, when he could’ve had a lot more time in the car before crunch time, and Lawson would’ve eased into that RB that’s working so well.
    1. 

       Edvaldo
       7th April 2025, 16:13

       And don’t forget they’re paying Perez to stay home as well.
15. 

    Alonslow
    7th April 2025, 16:18

    Yuki was ok, qualy doomed his race as Suzuka was the Monaco of Japan, but he did pass Lawson inmediately, passed Gasly with pit stop, had very few errors and could hang inside the DRS range of the car ahead with ease, meanwhile Liam went backwards even when Yuki passed him he didn’t have the pace to hang around with Alonso, Gasly, Tsunoda and running long later didn’t work either.

    So overall seems to be a good switch, now let’s see how Yuki does in Bahrain.
16. 

    Craig
    7th April 2025, 16:47

    Hard to say seeing as there was also an improvement in the car overall for this weekend. Needless to say Red Bull themselves likely feel justified based on whatever their metrics were which likely differ to everyone else’s.
17. 

    OOliver
    7th April 2025, 17:01

    Redbull made the right choice.
    The mistake Redbull made as to go for the “safe” car setup.
    Allow Tsunoda to experience the nature of the car since he was unable to do a pre season test in the car.
18. 

    Sergey Martyn
    7th April 2025, 18:10

    Why didn’t they sign Sainz with a clause in contract not to race Max? The queue of RB looks abysmall. Who’s next after a couple of more rounds? Hadjar? Need to find that paper bag I saved from my last flight.
19. 

    XM (@xmf1)
    8th April 2025, 9:01

    Someone put it to me this way:

    If neither of the McLaren’s could overtake the slower Red Bull on track, what chance did Yuki have in the trailing Red Bull while trying to learn it.

    I’m sure if Yuki qualified higher, he would’ve been in the points anyway
    1. 

       Coventry Climax
       8th April 2025, 12:22

       And therefore: so would any other driver, including Lawson.

       I’m not saying Lawson is better, I’m saying it’s too early to say Tsunoda is better.

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