Lando Norris expects Max Verstappen will be a significant threat again in this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix as the track layout will play to Red Bull’s strengths.
The McLaren driver said the Red Bull’s superior performance in low-speed corners prevented him from getting close to Verstappen throughout Sunday’s race. The Bahrain International Circuit features a higher proportion of lower-speed corners than Suzuka.
“Our weakness was the slow-speed compared to them,” said Norris after Sunday’s race. “There’s a lot less high-speed [in Bahrain], so we’re kind of losing some of our strengths and we’re going more into our weaknesses.”
Norris believes Red Bull have improved their car since the beginning of the season, after Verstappen narrowly beat him and team mate Oscar Piastri to pole position in Japan.
“Clearly, they’re quick,” he said. “I feel like between Oscar and myself, we got a lot out of the car [in qualifying]. It was probably a little bit more, yes, but both our theoretical [lap times] were not that far ahead.
“So Max is doing a good job and Red Bull seemed to maybe have caught up a little bit. But they’ve also not been that bad the whole season.
“When you look at Australia, he was fighting for a win. When you look at China, he wasn’t miles away. And this weekend he’s done very good. So I expect him to be challenging us every weekend.”
McLaren have “got areas to work on” with their car, he added. “In high-speed [corners] we were very, very strong and I think definitely the strongest car out there.
“In slow-speed we’re quite a chunk off the Red Bull, and that’s where we lost in qualifying. We lost again consistently in the race. So there’s a lot of areas we have to try to work on.”
| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free
Miss nothing from RaceFans
Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:
Liam Lawson’s nightmare dismissal from Red Bull following just two appearances for him handed a dream debut to the man who replaced him.
An abundance of goodwill greeted Yuki Tsunoda as Red Bull finally handed him an opportunity many felt he should have had in the first place. Plus, the timing could hardly have been better: Japan’s only Formula 1 driver made his debut for the top team at his home race in a car carrying a tribute livery in honour of their engine supplier and his long-term backer, Honda.
On Sunday, Max Verstappen carried the car to a superb victory, one of his best, as he kept the clearly faster McLarens behind all day. Tsunoda came in 58 seconds behind, out of the points.
There was little to shout about this result, on the face of it. Tsunoda only finished six seconds closer to Verstappen than Lawson did on his last outing for Red Bull. Had Tsunoda really done well enough to justify Red Bull showing Lawson the door so soon?
Tsunoda’s Q1 performance was encouraging
Taking the weekend as a whole, there is more cause to be encouraged about Tsunoda’s performance. He got off to a good start in first practice, lapping little more than a tenth of a second off Verstappen.
Although he was almost two seconds behind in Friday’s later session, this was no cause for alarm, as a series of disruptions had prevented Tsunoda from completing a representative qualifying simulation lap. However that lost time hurt him when crunch time came on Saturday.
In Q1 he matched Verstappen’s best time to within three-hundredths of a second after a similar number of runs. But while Verstappen found nearly half a second in Q2, Tsunoda was unable to improve his time, which he blamed on failing to prepare his tyres properly beforehand. He dropped out in the second round, almost half a second off Verstappen, and beaten by both drivers from his former team, including Lawson.
| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free
This left Tsunoda at a serious disadvantage for a race in which overtaking proved far more difficult than it had been in China two weeks earlier. Although he pounced on a mistake by Lawson on the first lap, Tsunoda only gained one further place, thanks to a slow pit stop for Pierre Gasly.
Team radio transcript: “I can’t turn the car at all”: Full radio from Lawson’s alarming Chinese GP slog to 16th
In China, Lawson started from the pit lane having made drastic set-up changes in a bid to master the tyre problems he was suffering. It was to no avail, and even when he ran in free air his lap times dropped off quickly.
In contrast, Tsunoda never had the benefit of free air during yesterday’s race. He spent the first stint stuck behind Gasly and the second in Fernando Alonso’s wheeltracks. In common with virtually every other driver on the grid, he simply couldn’t get close enough in the wake of either driver to mount an attack.
The raw numbers of Tsunoda’s first result alongside Verstappen do not make for encouraging reading. But there’s plenty of cause to believe he’s started off at a higher level than Lawson. As Tsunoda acknowledged after the race, the crucial factor this weekend will be whether he can qualify closer to Verstappen.
Tsunoda’s Japanese Grand Prix radio messages
Stint 1: Medium Stint 2: Hard Finish
| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free
Stint 1: Medium
Tsunoda picked up one place immediately after the start then set about trying to attack Gasly. He had difficulty getting within DRS range, however, and asked his race engineer Richard Wood to clarify where the detection point was in the final chicane.
Lap: 2/53 TSU: 1’36.076
Wood
DRS is enabled. Gasly the car ahead, 0.6. Lawson behind, 0.8.
Tsunoda
Yeah, I don’t need the information for the car in front.
Lap: 4/53 TSU: 1’34.771
Tsunoda
Where was the DRS detection point for last corner?
Wood
Detection in turn 15.
Tsunoda
Apex?
Wood
Apex.
Lap: 7/53 TSU: 1’34.655
Wood
Recommendation, no push, turn 11. No push toggle, turn eleven.
Lap: 8/53 TSU: 1’34.818
Wood
Okay, so Gasly’s dropped out of DRS from Alonso.
Lap: 9/53 TSU: 1’34.552
Tsunoda
Yeah, a bit more rear-limited.
Wood
Copy.
Wood
Think about torque eight, torque eight. I’ll have a flap update for the next stint when you can.
As he prepared to switch from the medium rubber to hards at his pit stop, Tsunoda told his team he would potentially like more front wing angle, but only if he was likely to emerge in clear air. That was a luxury few drivers enjoyed at Suzuka.
| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free
Lap: 11/53 TSU: 1’34.668
Tsunoda
Tyres okay, but it’s hard to overtake.
Wood
Yeah, copy that.
Lap: 13/53 TSU: 1’34.357
Tsunoda
Tyre is good.
Wood
Copy, good info.
Lap: 15/53 TSU: 1’34.020
Tsunoda
Are we sticking still to the plan A? I think maybe… We’re improving lap times, so I don’t know
Wood
Copy Yuki, we are looking at the options just now. Continue with plan A for now.
Lap: 17/53 TSU: 1’34.595
Tsunoda
Tsunoda describes his preference for front wing flap change at his pit stop If it’s by myself maybe stick to this or maybe a step more flap. If traffic, similar.
Wood
Copy.
Lap: 20/53 TSU: 1’34.326
Wood
Okay, could be racing Russell at pit exit. Russell pit exit now.
Wood
Okay, so car behind Russell. Russell on new hard tyres.
Tsunoda
Copy.
Lap: 21/53 TSU: 1’34.975
Wood
Gap behind, 0.5. Russell passes him on the inside at the chicane
Stint 2: Hard
Tsunoda got a late call to “box opposite” Gasly – i.e. only pit if he did not – and came in. Gasly pitted on the following lap and a slow tyre meant Tsunoda easily gained the place. Now he was stuck behind Alonso.
| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free
Lap: 23/53 TSU: 1’36.396
Wood
Battery’s good. How are the tyres?
Tsunoda
The tyre is at least consistent, but the grip is low I guess.
Wood
And box opposite Gasly. Box opposite Gasly, this lap. Gasly stays out and Tsunoda comes in
Lap: 24/53 TSU: 1’54.579
Wood
Okay, we can push. Everything you’ve got here.
Lap: 25/53 TSU: 1’33.618
Wood
Tsunoda arrives at the pit straight, Gasly is in the pits Okay, press and hold here. Press and hold. Gasly pit exit and Fernando as well.
Wood
Car ahead Fernando on new hard, let’s get him.
Wood
Battery remains good.
Lap: 28/53 TSU: 1’33.036
Tsunoda
Mode six?
Wood
Yeah, mode six.
Lap: 29/53 TSU: 1’32.955
Wood
We’ve got display 10 position eight, display 10, position eight.
Tsunoda
It is already done. It’s already selected.
Wood
Yep, copy. Strap five. Strat five.
Lap: 31/53 TSU: 1’33.125
Wood
Display 10, position 10 when you can. Display 1-0, position 1-0.
Red Bull suggested various settings changes for Tsunoda as he tried to attack Alonso. But he told his team the turbulence from the Aston Martin made it too difficult to get close.
| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free
Lap: 35/53 TSU: 1’32.424
Wood
Yuki so we are happy with this tyre so you can push, use all the tyre.
Tsunoda
Copy.
Wood
That will improve performance. Engine 11, position 2. Engine 1-1, position 1. How’s the balance? Can we help you anywhere with tools?
Lap: 39/53 TSU: 1’32.598
Tsunoda
Yeah, it’s just that the dirty air is hard.
Wood
Copy.
Lap: 40/53 TSU: 1’32.319
Wood
You’re doing a great job, keep on concentrating, you were just outside DRS that time. Keep it clean.
Lap: 41/53 TSU: 1’32.522
Wood
Engine 13 position six for performance, engine 1-3 position six.
Lap: 43/53 TSU: 1’32.131
Wood
For info car behind, Gasly, three seconds.
Lap: 46/53 TSU: 1’31.940
Wood
Gap behind 2.5.
Lap: 47/53 TSU: 1’32.381
Wood
Display five, position six for more low speed locking at exit.
Lap: 48/53 TSU: 1’31.907
Wood
Think about third toggle for turn 16.
Finish
Over the final laps Red Bull gave Tsunoda the benefit of a more powerful engine mode for periods during the final laps. But it was all for naught.
Go ad-free for just £1 per month
>> Find out more and sign up
Lap: 49/53 TSU: 1’31.929
Wood
Okay, that’s five laps to go. Gap at DRS 1.1. Mode nine when you can.
Lap: 51/53 TSU: 1’31.871
Wood
Okay, three laps to go. Gap at DRS 1.1. Keep it clean.
Wood
On the straight exiting Spoon Three seconds, press and hold here. Three seconds.
Lap: 52/53 TSU: 1’32.141
Wood
Exit of hairpin Okay we want one more three-second press hold out of 14, do it immediately at full throttle, immediately at full throttle.
Chequered flag
Wood
Okay mate recharge on, recharge, that was a tough day today. Overtaking was very difficult. Fail 84 fail please, fail 84 fail.
Tsunoda
Yeah, sorry guys. Yeah I think the pace was there but just the traffic, it’s quite hard to close the gap more than one sec.
Wood
Sorry we couldn’t get you in the points for your home race.
Tsunoda
Nah, I just have to be better in the qualifying, that’s it.
Wood
So pick up rubber on the way in, pick up the rubber.
Wood
So finishing order, Max P1, Norris, Piastri. So a Honda on the podium for their home race.
Tsunoda
Yeah, congrats, congrats, guys. Impressive.
Miss nothing from RaceFans
Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:
Max Verstappen said winning on home ground for engine supplier Honda was an “insane” result for Red Bull.
Sporting a special white-and-red tribute livery to the team’s engine supplier, Verstappen claimed his fourth consecutive victory at the Suzuka track, despite being pursued all afternoon by McLaren’s two drivers.
Verstappen, who captured pole position by one hundredth of a second, said taking his first win of the season in Japan was the perfect way to mark the final season of the team’s partnership with its engine supplier.
“Already yesterday was a very beautiful day for us. And then of course to follow it up with a win is just fantastic.
“Honestly, the relationship that we’ve had with Honda has been amazing. I’ve really enjoyed my time with them – how they work, how professional they are and how dedicated they are. They’ve given me so much.
“Together we’ve won four drivers’ championships and two constructors’. It’s been unbelievable and also, of course, something you’ll never forget.”
Although he came under pressure from the McLaren drivers throughout the race, Verstappen said the thought of winning for Honda “did cross my mind while driving, as well.”
| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free
“I said it would be insane to win here today, also for Honda on their track,” he added. “So maybe it gave that extra motivation to try to stay ahead. It’s a proper send-off, we couldn’t have wished for a better weekend to be honest.”
Having only narrowly beaten the McLaren drivers to pole position, Verstappen said his car’s performance in the race was better than expected.
“The whole race I saw two orange cars in my mirror and especially those last 20 laps we were pushing quite hard out there. You could just feel the tyres were degrading more and more but you had to keep on fighting it, basically being on the limit.
“It was better than expected, to be honest, my race pace. I do think that probably the cooler track helped us out a bit with less tyre overheating.”
Verstappen said he was “very proud of this result,” which is the 64th grand prix victory of his career.
“I think most of it was done yesterday, being able to start from pole, because around here I think it’s just very hard to follow. The cars are improving every single year, more downforce, and probably you’ll see it’s just a bit harder to follow. You only have one DRS zone as well here, so it’s very tough. Plus the degradation seemed quite low, so you do a one-stop, so I think that definitely helps.
“But still, we take it, we really maximised the weekend, and I’m very proud of everyone.”
| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free
Miss nothing from RaceFans
Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:
Max Verstappen lost time in his pit stop during the Japanese Grand Prix because two key team members were missing, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner explained.
Matt and Jon Caller, who are twins, are the team’s number one mechanics. Horner revealed both had to return home this weekend for personal reasons, and the team had to use reserve members of their pit crew.
Verstappen was leading the race when he came into the pits on the same lap as Lando Norris, who was chasing him. Norris’s pit stop was slightly quicker which allowed him to challenge Verstappen at the pit exit, though he ran onto the grass and fell behind the Red Bull.
Horner said Red Bull anticipated McLaren would bring Norris in on the same lap as Verstappen, and the slight loss of time in their pit stop brought the two drivers close together in the pits.
“After they pitted Oscar [Piastri] first it was clear that they were going to pit Lando the following lap,” he told the official Formula 1 channel. “So we pitted to cover [that].
“This weekend the two number one mechanics, that are twins, on the car, unfortunately their dad has not been well so they’ve gone back to the UK. So we’ve got the reserve guys on the pit stop and we had a slightly slower stop than would have been ideal.
“That allowed Lando – thankfully his stop wasn’t stellar either – to get close, but he was never alongside.”
| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free
Norris claimed Verstappen had forced him off the track but race control took no action over the incident. “I think that stewards made the right decision on that,” said Horner.
Not only was Verstappen’s pit stop delayed, the team also failed to complete a planned change in front wing flap angle. That meant his car’s balance did not change as Verstappen intended it to during his second stint.
“At the first pit stop, we didn’t get the front wing adjustment that we wanted into the car and so that compromised his second stint with a bit more understeer than he would have probably liked,” said Horner.
“But again, playing with the tools, working with his engineering team to help him with his diff[erential] settings and so on to help that balance, it was a phenomenal team performance to extract every ounce of performance from the car this weekend.”
Horner praised Verstappen’s error-free run to victory despite sustained pressure from Norris. “There was so little overtaking in that race that it was going to take something Herculean or a big mistake [for] the McLarens to make a pass,” he said.
“It was all about being inch-perfect. Max knew that. He was quick where he needed to be: the last chicane, turn 11, they couldn’t get anywhere near. He kept them just out of the DRS [range].”
| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free
Miss nothing from RaceFans
Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:
Yuki Tsunoda admitted Red Bull’s car is trickier to drive in real life than it is in the simulator, after his first run in it today.
However the team’s new driver showed promising pace in the first practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix. He lapped just a tenth of a second slower than team mate Max Verstappen.
Tsunoda was a victim of the heavily disrupted second practice session as he was not able to set a representative lap time. He ended up 18th on the times sheets, 10 places behind Verstappen.
“FP1 was better than expected,” Tsunoda said afterwards, “a good start for myself. But in FP2 I didn’t set a lap time.”
“I think lots of work to do, maybe I slightly struggled or there’s something that we have to look [at more] through data in FP2. But so far overall it’s okay, I just have to build up confidence more.”
After being called up to replace Liam Lawson in Red Bull’s line-up from this weekend, Tsunoda had only driven the team’s 2025 in the simulator before getting behind the wheel for the first time today. He said the real machine was a little harder to handle than the simulation.
“It’s a bit different to the simulator, what I felt, to be honest, maybe a little bit more than I expected in terms of car feeling,” he told the official F1 channel.
| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free
“But I knew anyway it’s always going to be a bit different in the real car, and it was just a little more exaggerated in the car, feeling a bit more tricky.”
Verstappen ended the day’s running eighth fastest, half a second off the pace. He said he isn’t fully comfortable with his car yet.
“Today’s been quite difficult for me, just trying a lot of different things with the car, but it seems like a lot things are not really clicking at the moment,” he said.
“It’s quite difficult just to put the lap down. You need a lot confidence and commitment around here, and at the moment I don’t feel like I can use that, so we still have a bit of work to do.”
Miss nothing from RaceFans
Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:
Max Verstappen subtly indicated his view of Red Bull’s extraordinary decision to drop his team mate after just two grands prix when the team announced the decision a week ago.
He endorsed a social media post by fellow Dutch racer Giedo van der Garde which described the decision as being like “bullying or a panic move.”
One week later, Verstappen was unwilling to give any further indication of his views on the matter, keeping his counsel when pressed over whether Red Bull made the right call to replace Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda so early in the season.
“I’ve discussed everything with the team, so the team knows how I think about everything,” he told the official F1 channel. “And I think that’s enough, to be honest.”
The world champion said it was “not necessary” to give his thoughts on the wisdom of Red Bull’s decisions first to promote Lawson after just 11 starts, then cut him loose after two appearances for them on tracks he hadn’t previously competed at.
“Honestly, some bits we discussed, they don’t always need to be told in public as well,” he said, “because anything that you add people start speculating about that as well and I don’t like to read about it.”
Verstappen will know how these words are likely to be interpreted: namely, that he wouldn’t keep schtum if he had anything positive to say about the situation. That ‘like’ on van der Garde’s social media post did the talking for him.
| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free
However his new team mate said he found it hard to accept the team’s original decision to promote Lawson instead of him. “For me at least, it was brutal enough last year at the end of the season when they chose Liam over me,” said Tsunoda.
“It is what it is. I’m sure Liam also understands how quickly things can change within our structure. That’s one of the reasons we succeed, but also one of the reasons why we tend to get a little more attention with those situations.”
Tsunoda also revealed that Red Bull’s motorsport consultant Helmut Marko, who plays an active role in hiring and firing drivers from the top team, has not spoken to him in the week since his promotion was announced.
“Surprisingly, he didn’t call me yet,” said Tsunoda. “It’s very unusual. I’m not sure – maybe he was busy with other things.
“I can’t wait to see him and see how he’s going to react to me. It’s very unusual. [In] F3, F2, F1, he’s always been calling me but this is the only time he didn’t.
“I’m sure there’s not any [problem] from his side. Even in the last few races, we’ve still had a good relationship. We didn’t have any moments between us.”
| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free
But Red Bull’s slump in form remains Verstappen’s focus. While he has been able to extract results from the car, and heads into the third round of the season just eight points off the championship lead, his past two team mates struggled with the peculiarities of their car’s handling.
Although he suspects Red Bull’s car may be trickier to drive than others, Verstappen said it’s difficult for him to judge given his experience.
“I’ve been part of the team now for a long time, so for me, it’s always a bit more difficult to judge because I haven’t really driven any other car,” he said. “So naturally, I don’t know how much more difficult or how much easier another car is, I just drive to the limit of what I have with the car. And that’s that really.
“That it’s not the easiest [to drive], probably, yeah. I think we always discuss things we can do better on the car and that’s what we are working on currently as well.”
Miss nothing from RaceFans
Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:
Max Verstappen subtly indicated his view of Red Bull’s extraordinary decision to drop his team mate after just two grands prix when the team announced the decision a week ago.
He endorsed a social media post by fellow Dutch racer Giedo van der Garde which described the decision as being like “bullying or a panic move.”
One week later, Verstappen was unwilling to give any further indication of his views on the matter, keeping his counsel when pressed over whether Red Bull made the right call to replace Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda so early in the season.
“I’ve discussed everything with the team, so the team knows how I think about everything,” he told the official F1 channel. “And I think that’s enough, to be honest.”
The world champion said it was “not necessary” to give his thoughts on the wisdom of Red Bull’s decisions first to promote Lawson after just 11 starts, then cut him loose after two appearances for them on tracks he hadn’t previously competed at.
“Honestly, some bits we discussed, they don’t always need to be told in public as well,” he said, “because anything that you add people start speculating about that as well and I don’t like to read about it.”
Verstappen will know how these words are likely to be interpreted: namely, that he wouldn’t keep schtum if he had anything positive to say about the situation. That ‘like’ on van der Garde’s social media post did the talking for him.
| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free
However his new team mate said he found it hard to accept the team’s original decision to promote Lawson instead of him. “For me at least, it was brutal enough last year at the end of the season when they chose Liam over me,” said Tsunoda.
“It is what it is. I’m sure Liam also understands how quickly things can change within our structure. That’s one of the reasons we succeed, but also one of the reasons why we tend to get a little more attention with those situations.”
Tsunoda also revealed that Red Bull’s motorsport consultant Helmut Marko, who plays an active role in hiring and firing drivers from the top team, has not spoken to him in the week since his promotion was announced.
“Surprisingly, he didn’t call me yet,” said Tsunoda. “It’s very unusual. I’m not sure – maybe he was busy with other things.
“I can’t wait to see him and see how he’s going to react to me. It’s very unusual. [In] F3, F2, F1, he’s always been calling me but this is the only time he didn’t.
“I’m sure there’s not any [problem] from his side. Even in the last few races, we’ve still had a good relationship. We didn’t have any moments between us.”
| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free
But Red Bull’s slump in form remains Verstappen’s focus. While he has been able to extract results from the car, and heads into the third round of the season just eight points off the championship lead, his past two team mates struggled with the peculiarities of their car’s handling.
Although he suspects Red Bull’s car may be trickier to drive than others, Verstappen said it’s difficult for him to judge given his experience.
“I’ve been part of the team now for a long time, so for me, it’s always a bit more difficult to judge because I haven’t really driven any other car,” he said. “So naturally, I don’t know how much more difficult or how much easier another car is, I just drive to the limit of what I have with the car. And that’s that really.
“That it’s not the easiest [to drive], probably, yeah. I think we always discuss things we can do better on the car and that’s what we are working on currently as well.”
Miss nothing from RaceFans
Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:
Red Bull has made sure Yuki Tsunoda has no doubts over their priority after he became the team’s latest driver.
Tsunoda will team up with Max Verstappen, who lies second in the drivers’ championship after the opening two rounds. Red Bull’s motorsport consultant Helmut Marko said this week they need him to “support Max strategy-wise,” which Tsunoda acknowledged today.
The new Red Bull driver said his objective is to “basically be as close to Max as possible, which anyway gives good results for the team, also it allows the team to support other strategies in the race.”
“They’ve clearly said the main priority is Max,” he explained in the FIA press conference at Suzuka, “which I completely understand because he’s a four-times world champion and so far already in the last few races even in difficult situations he performed well.
Verstappen may not “say the truth” about car – Tsunoda
“So [my goal is] to be as close as possible to Max. Also, to help the development as well with my feedback. They were very happy with my feedback in Abu Dhabi [testing], so just continue that. But the main priority is to be close to Max – which won’t be easy, for sure.”
Tsunoda is Verstappen’s third different team mate in the last four rounds. His predecessors Liam Lawson and Sergio Perez lagged far behind Verstappen’s pace in the Red Bull.
However Tsunoda does not expect his new team mate will offer him much help in understanding how to get the best out of their car.
| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free
“Not really, to be honest, I think even if I tapped his shoulder and asked about the car, I don’t think he’s going to say the truth, you know?” he said. “So I’ll just try to discover it myself in the data, how he’s driving. Also on onboard videos, I already checked multiple videos from him in the last two grands prix.”
He said he hasn’t experienced the car’s “trickiness” so far in his post-season test in last year’s chassis or his simulator runs since joining the team last week. “I’ll feel it myself and I’m sure it also depends on driving style. It will behave a little bit different.
“Once I feel the car, in my five years of experience, I believe that will give me some ideas to sort it out. And if I really struggle, whatever, no, I still don’t think I’ll ask him. I’ll just try to discover it with my engineers.
“So far, they’ve been very helpful. [My engineer] already gave some ideas about what kind of characteristics give drivers very little confidence. That information is already stuck in my head and it’s pretty clear. So I’ll just see how it goes after [first practice].”
While Red Bull showed Lawson the door after just two races, Tsunoda said he hasn’t been given a deadline to get to grips with his new car.
“I didn’t get any specific number of races or time to prove myself,” he explained, saying Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has “been very supportive so far and just mentioned the expectations he has of me – what he wants me to achieve.”
| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free
“The pressure always comes once you hit the track,” continued Tsunoda. “But for now, I feel really relaxed.
“It feels similar to when I was at [racing Bulls]. Once I entered hospitality I was feeling the same, I was only thinking about breakfast. So far I’m not necessarily feeling pressure.
“Those things will come naturally, especially during qualifying [at my] home grand prix. But there’s not much point in feeling pressure. I’m feeling confident and hope I can do something different from other drivers.”
Miss nothing from RaceFans
Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:
Liam Lawson says the two race weekends he had in Red Bull’s car before being demoted to their second team wasn’t enough time to get used to it.
Red Bull demoted Lawson to their second team, Racing Bulls, and have promoted Yuki Tsunoda in his place from this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.
“Obviously I would have loved more time,” Lawson told Sky. His only two events at Red Bull came at venues where he had never previously raced. “I felt like [I needed] more time, especially going to places that I’d been before.”
Lawson, who made just 11 grand prix starts before moving to Red Bull, suffered some disruptions during his preparations for his first full F1 season. He covered fewer laps in testing than any driver bar Lance Stroll and was unable to participate in final practice for the Australian Grand Prix due to a power unit problem.
“It was a tough start,” he said. “We had a rocky testing, we had a rocky first weekend in Melbourne with practice and then obviously China was a sprint [weekend, with only one practice session].
“I think going to place that I’ve been before, with the way the car was quite tricky, I think that would’ve helped and I would have loved that opportunity. But obviously it’s not my decision so I’m here to make the most this one.”
He believes he could have got used to the car had he had more time in it. “The car is hard to drive, but we were going through a process of making that adjustment,” he said. “For me it’s honestly time.
| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free
“With the way that the weekends went: In Formula 1, in a pre-season test you’re driving all day and you have loads of time to adjust and things like that. I think honestly a lack of time in the car is really the biggest thing for me.
“It made it hard to adjust, it felt like each session we were going out we were adjusting or getting used to something, it was a little bit unknown. So for me it’s not so much a driving style or something like that, it’s just literally adjusting and for me I just didn’t have the time to do that.”
This article will be updated
Miss nothing from RaceFans
Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:
Red Bull will pay tribute to its engine supplier Honda by running a special tribute livery at this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.
The team has revealed a special livery in the colours of the Japanese flag for its two RB21s.
This is the final year in which Red Bull is using Honda’s power units. It is designing its own motors in conjunction with Ford for the new regulations which will arrive next year.
Red Bull previously ran a similar livery in 2021. It intended to use the design at the Japanese Grand Prix that year, but it was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so the livery appeared at the Turkish Grand Prix instead.
The team’s change of livery is particularly significant this weekend as Yuki Tsunoda will become the first Japanese driver to race for the team. He has replaced Liam Lawson.
Red Bull has enjoyed huge success with Honda since joining forces with the manufacturer in 2019. Honda endured an uncompetitive spell working with McLaren in the early years of the current V6 hybrid turbo power units. The pair split at the end of 2017 and Red Bull took up a supply of Honda power units for its second team, then known as Toro Rosso.
Having been impressed by the improvements Honda made in 2018, Red Bull began using its engines the following year. Max Verstappen scored the first victory for the new alliance in their ninth race together, at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.
| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free
Two years later Verstappen won his first of four consecutive drivers’ titles in a Honda-powered Red Bull. However by that point Honda had decided not continue manufacturing F1 engines. As F1 froze its engine specifications at the end of 2021, Red Bull was able to continue using the power units. In addition to Verstappen’s four titles, the team won the constructors championship in 2022 and 2023.
Red Bull made plans to produce its own F1 engines and originally rebranded its Honda power units as ‘Red Bull Powertrains’. However Honda subsequently decided to return to F1 as an engine manufacturer in 2026, supplying Aston Martin, and restored its brandings to Red Bull’s power units.
This weekend will be the first time Red Bull has used a variation on its livery since last year’s Miami Grand Prix. The team originally announced it would use further special liveries at the other two American round on the calendar, but dropped the plan in order to avoiding adding “undue weight” to its chassis.
Cookies
To make this site work properly, we sometimes place small data files called cookies on your device. This enables us to improve our website to provide a better user experience. No personal data is collected.
