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2025 F1 season/2025 Japanese Grand Prix/Christian Horner/Formula 1/Max Verstappen

Verstappen’s team mates need “calmer”, less competitive car set-ups

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Red Bull needs to give Max Verstappen’s team mates less competitive set-ups because they cannot handle his “unique” approach to extracting performance from the car, says team principal Christian Horner.

The team has replaced Liam Lawson as Verstappen’s team mate this weekend after he failed to score points in either of the opening rounds. Horner said he was pleased with Yuki Tsunoda’s performance on his debut for the team in first practice at Suzuka.

“It was certainly a good start for Yuki, settling into the car pretty well,” Horner told Sky. “Obviously it’s quite a different feel to what he’s used to, but I thought he settled in and he gave very good feedback and now both drivers are working away to improve the car for the next session.”

Tsunoda is Verstappen’s third different team mate in the last four races as Red Bull dropped Sergio Perez at the end of last season, only to seek a new replacement soon afterwards. Perez and Lawson both struggled to match Verstappen’s pace in the car and Horner said the team have to accept the need to configure their two cars differently to suit their drivers.

Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull, Suzuka, 2025
Tsunoda’s first appearance for Red Bull in practice went well

“I think we have to provide a different set-up,” he said. “Max’s ability to extract lap time from the car is unique and I think that we haven’t seen another driver able to do that in the way that Max is able to.”

However that will inevitably mean Verstappen’s team mate’s car is unlikely to match the lap times he can produce, Horner admitted.

“You need to give almost a calmer car to whoever is the partner driver to give a more settled and predictable feel,” he said. “That’s not necessarily the quickest car, but it is definitely a more confidence-inspiring car for whichever driver.”

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This has consequences for Red Bull’s approach to the championships, said Horner, as they are favouring one driver while their rivals try to get the best out of two. “Our rules of engagement are very clear,” he said. “Max is the lead driver and Yuki’s job is to support him as best as he can to retain that drivers’ championship.

Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, Albert Park, Melbourne, 2025
Report: Even the best driver on the grid needs a team mate to push them – Norris

“The performance that he’s just put in that last session is exactly where we want him to be, to be up there able to support Max.

“Our advantage is that we’re very clear in that strategy. Of course McLaren have got two drivers fighting for a championship, they’ll be taking points theoretically off each other. Ferrari the same, so in a very tight battle, sometimes you’ve got to back your horse.”

He described Verstappen as a once-in-a-generation talent, but admitted that pursuing his development preferences has left them with a car others cannot drive as successfully. “Being his team mate is arguably the toughest job in Formula 1,” said Horner.

“Sergio Perez for four years, for three of those years did a pretty decent job. He was second in the drivers’ championship in ’23, third in ’22 and managed to win some very decent races.

“Of course the development direction that we push to extract performance from the car, we’re always looking to create the fastest car, whether that was in 2021 or ’22, ’23, and of course last year was a lot tougher. But Max is very clear what he wants from the car and of course that will always give you a stronger return if we can give him what he’s looking for.”

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Horner admitted the team made a mistake by promoting Lawson after just 11 grand prix appearances. “With hindsight I think we just asked too much too soon from Liam,” he said.

Liam Lawson's shock early exit from Red Bull examined in five charts
Stats: Hired to fired in 98 days – Lawson’s shock early exit from Red Bull in five charts

“We’ve got a lot of work to do with the car and unfortunately I think that sometimes you’ve got to be cruel to be kind.

“But he’s not out of Formula 1. He’s gone back to the Racing Bulls, we still believe in him as a talent for the future and making use of Yuki’s experience will hopefully enable the engineers to make faster progress with the car.”

Tsunoda “brings experience and I think that knowledge is very useful as this season is all going to be about a development race,” said Horner. “That’s why we took the decision early.

“I think Liam would have got there but it might have taken five, six, seven races or half a season. We don’t have that amount of time so after discussing it internally we decided we’ve got to rip the plaster off this now and get on with it. That’s what we chose to do and Yuki’s jumped in and done a good job initially.”

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2025 Japanese Grand Prix

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Formula 1

The five factors behind Red Bull swapping Lawson and Tsunoda in F1 2025

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It’s no secret that Red Bull is known for quick decisions when it comes to the driver market, but even by its standards, a change after just two race weekends is extreme. However, Red Bull has deemed it necessary to swap Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda.

The decision is presented as a collective one, after a high-level meeting in Dubai on Tuesday with team principal Christian Horner, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko and the Thai shareholders. Tsunoda gets his long-awaited shot at Red Bull after more than four years with the sister team, while Lawson is sent back to the junior outfit for now.

But what are the reasons for it, and why has the team acted ahead of the Japanese GP?

1. No signs of rapid improvement in the data

When Autosport first broke the news about the looming driver swap on Sunday, Horner reacted in the Shanghai paddock saying the team would take a good look at the numbers: “We have plenty of data from the first two races and we’ll go through that in the upcoming days.” When asked if it was better to wait for Suzuka or Bahrain – tracks Lawson was familiar with – the team boss replied: “These guys get up to speed so quickly nowadays.” In other words, Red Bull didn’t see a reason to delay their decision any longer. It was a clear indication of what was to come.

It implies that the data Horner was talking about didn’t show many signs of quick improvements on the horizon. As the focus in car development has to shift toward 2026 at some point, Red Bull felt it couldn’t afford to wait. Lawson himself seemed aware of the ticking clock as well, saying on Saturday: “I just need more time in the car, but I know I don’t have it.” When Autosport put those words to Marko, the Austrian replied: “He’s right.”

Paddock sources suggested that Lawson might have bought himself more time with a strong result in China, a points finish after starting from the pitlane, but that breakthrough performance never came. Red Bull saw no upward trend – however short the timeline may have been – and felt that waiting for the upcoming triple-header wouldn’t change things.

Liam Lawson, Red Bull Racing

Liam Lawson, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Ironically, Lawson’s adaptation was named as one of the key reasons for his promotion last winter, along with his mental strengths. But in a top team and with an extremely difficult car to drive for everyone else than Max Verstappen, that adaption was too much to ask.

2. Honda’s influence behind the scenes

Another key factor in Tsunoda’s promotion is Honda’s role behind the scenes. The Japanese manufacturer is reportedly contributing around €10million and therefore sweetening the financial side of this move. It’s particularly relevant given the expensive replacement of Sergio Perez at the end of 2024. Honda’s backing has long been pivotal in Tsunoda’s Red Bull career, and now helps to tip the scales once again.

The timing of Honda’s backing is very interesting. Just weeks ago, the brand suggested that Tsunoda would need to prove himself independently with Honda’s future partnership with Aston Martin looming. But this opportunity was too good to pass up for all parties involved. Having a Japanese driver at the main team serves as an attractive way to conclude the Red Bull-Honda era in 2025 – assuming the 2026 regulations remain intact for now.

3. Tsunoda couldn’t have done more to prove himself

Beyond financial factors, Tsunoda himself deserves credit for this promotion. Once seen by the Red Bull bosses as a hot-headed driver – especially over team radio – the 24-year-old has matured to some extent. Following Pierre Gasly’s move to Alpine, Tsunoda had to step up as the team leader in Faenza, first outpacing Nyck de Vries, then going toe-to-toe with Daniel Ricciardo, whose fairytale return to Red Bull never materialised because of Tsunoda having the upper hand.

Tsunoda became more consistent during the 2024 season, and that trend has continued into this year. Marko’s comments in the Shanghai paddock were telling and already hinted on a driver change: “Yuki is in the form of his life” and “this is a different Yuki than the one we saw in previous years”.

Still, it’s a notable shift in a short time frame. Just four months ago, Red Bull looked at all the factors and data and opted for Lawson, seemingly discounting Tsunoda’s experience and technical feedback. Now, those aspects play a prominent role in the team’s press release. It underlines that things can change quickly in F1 – especially within the Red Bull camp.

Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team

Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

4. Red Bull has more to lose with Lawson than with Tsunoda

One of Horner’s most interesting remarks on Sunday was: “We have a responsibility towards Liam, and we’ll look at what’s best for him.” At first glance, these words suggested giving him more time and therefore more races at Red Bull. But in reality, the quotes were meant slightly differently: taking responsibility by pulling Lawson out of a high-pressure situation.

Yes, the demotion is a blow to Lawson’s career momentum and confidence. But leaving him to struggle alongside Verstappen week after week might’ve done more damage in the end.

Red Bull probably sees more long-term value in protecting Lawson than Tsunoda, whose future was already uncertain beyond 2025 given Honda’s departure. As Marko said in Bahrain: “If Yuki performs well, then there’s a future. If not, then maybe there is no more chance in F1 for him.”

If Tsunoda fails at Red Bull in the remainder of this season, the Milton Keynes-based team can say it has given him the chance and move on. It’s a lower-risk proposition both financially (thanks to Honda) and strategically. The PR risk of putting Tsunoda in the very difficult Red Bull car in front of his home fans in Japan is high, but even if it fails, Red Bull might consider it a manageable loss long term, especially knowing his future was uncertain beyond 2025 anyway. Lawson, meanwhile, could be rehabilitated in an easier car – a sentiment echoed by Verstappen in China: “I think if you give Liam the Racing Bulls car, he’ll be quicker. I really think that.”

5. The high-pressure situation Red Bull is in

Ultimately, this move speaks volumes about the urgency Red Bull feels and the situation it is in. In the press release to announce the swap, Horner was quoted: “We came into the 2025 season, with two ambitions, to retain the world drivers’ championship and to reclaim the world constructors’ title and this is a purely sporting decision.”

Whether Tsunoda’s promotion over Lawson helps achieve those goals remains to be seen, and most likely it won’t make much of a difference, but it reflects the urgency. There’s pressure on both the driver line-up and the technical team. With focus inevitably turning to 2026 at some point, Red Bull knows that the first upgrades have to be spot-on. At the same time it can’t afford too many pointless weekends with the second car if it doesn’t want to lose sight of the constructors’ title already.

Red Bull feels it has to do “something”, and without many other options on the drivers’ front, “something” is giving Tsunoda’s his long-awaited chance at the main team. The real solution, however, needs to come from car development instead of driver changes – not least to prove Verstappen that Red Bull can still turn its fortunes around. If the constant struggles with its second seat have made anything clear, it is that the problem is more in the Red Bull car and not the drivers.

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In this article

Ronald Vording

Formula 1

Max Verstappen

Yuki Tsunoda

Liam Lawson

Helmut Marko

Christian Horner

Red Bull Racing

RB

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Formula 1

The five reasons why Red Bull swapped Lawson and Tsunoda

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on

It’s no secret that Red Bull is known for quick decisions when it comes to the driver market, but even by its standards, a change after just two race weekends is extreme. However, Red Bull has deemed it necessary to swap Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda after just two weekends.

The decision is presented as a collective one, after a high-level meeting in Dubai on Tuesday with team principal Christian Horner, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko and the Thai shareholders. Tsunoda gets his long-awaited shot at Red Bull after more than four years with the sister team, while Lawson is sent back to the junior outfit for now.

But what are the reasons for it, and why has the team acted ahead of the Japanese GP?

1. No signs of rapid improvement in the data

When Motorsport.com first broke the news about the looming driver swap on Sunday, Horner reacted in the Shanghai paddock saying the team would take a good look at the numbers: “We have plenty of data from the first two races and we’ll go through that in the upcoming days.” When asked if it was better to wait for Suzuka or Bahrain – tracks Lawson was familiar with – the team boss replied: “These guys get up to speed so quickly nowadays.” In other words, Red Bull didn’t see a reason to delay their decision any longer. It was a clear indication of what was to come.

It implies that the data Horner was talking about didn’t show many signs of quick improvements on the horizon. As the focus in car development has to shift toward 2026 at some point, Red Bull felt it couldn’t afford to wait. Lawson himself seemed aware of the ticking clock as well, saying on Saturday: “I just need more time in the car, but I know I don’t have it.” When Motorsport.com put those works to Marko, the Austrian replied: “He’s right.”

Paddock sources suggested that Lawson might have bought himself more time with a strong result in China, a points finish after starting from the pitlane, but that breakthrough performance never came. Red Bull saw no upward trend – however short the timeline may have been – and felt that waiting for the upcoming triple-header wouldn’t change things.

Liam Lawson, Red Bull Racing

Liam Lawson, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Ironically, Lawson’s adaptation was named as one of the key reasons for his promotion last winter, along with his mental strengths. But in a top team and with an extremely difficult car to drive for everyone else than Max Verstappen, that adaption that was too much to ask.

Read Also:

2. Honda’s influence behind the scenes

Another key factor in Tsunoda’s promotion is Honda’s role behind the scenes. The Japanese manufacturer is reportedly contributing around €10million and therefore sweetening the financial side of this move. It’s particularly relevant given the expensive replacement of Sergio Perez at the end of 2024. Honda’s backing has long been pivotal in Tsunoda’s Red Bull career, and now helps to tip the scales once again.

The timing of Honda’s backing is very interesting. Just weeks ago, the brand suggested that Tsunoda would need to prove himself independently with Honda’s future partnership with Aston Martin looming. But this opportunity was too good to pass up for all parties involved. Having a Japanese driver at the main team serves as an attractive way to conclude the Red Bull-Honda era in 2025 – assuming the 2026 regulations remain intact for now.

3. Tsunoda couldn’t have done more to prove himself

Beyond financial factors, Tsunoda himself deserves credit for this promotion. Once seen by the Red Bull bosses as a hot-headed driver – especially over team radio – the Japanese has matured to some extent. Following Pierre Gasly’s move to Alpine, Tsunoda had to step up as the team leader in Faenza, first outpacing Nyck de Vries, then going toe-to-toe with Daniel Ricciardo, whose fairytale return to Red Bull never materialised because of Tsunoda having the upper hand.

Tsunoda became more consistent during the 2024 season, and that trend has continued into this year. Marko’s comments in the Shanghai paddock were telling and already hinted on a driver change: “Yuki is in the form of his life” and “this is a different Yuki than the one we saw in previous years”.

Read Also:

Still, it’s a notable shift in a short time frame. Just four months ago, Red Bull looked at all the factors and data and opted for Lawson, seemingly discounting Tsunoda’s experience and technical feedback. Now, those aspects play a prominent role in the team’s press release. It underlines that things can change quickly in F1 – especially within the Red Bull camp.

Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team

Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

4. Red Bull has more to lose with Lawson than with Tsunoda

One of Horner’s most interesting remarks on Sunday was: “We have a responsibility towards Liam, and we’ll look at what’s best for him.” At first glance, these words suggested giving him more time and therefore more races at Red Bull. But in reality, the quotes were meant slightly differently: taking responsibility by pulling Lawson out of a high-pressure situation.

Yes, the demotion is a blow to Lawson’s career momentum and confidence. But leaving him to struggle alongside Verstappen week after week might’ve done more damage in the end.

Red Bull probably sees more long-term value in protecting Lawson than Tsunoda, whose future was already uncertain beyond 2025 given Honda’s departure. As Marko said in Bahrain: “If Yuki performs well, then there’s a future. If not, then maybe there is no more chance in F1 for him.”

If Tsunoda fails at Red Bull in the remainder of this season, the Milton Keynes-based team can say they have given him the chance and move on. It’s a lower-risk proposition both financially (thanks to Honda) and strategically. The PR risk of putting Tsunoda in the very difficult Red Bull car in front of his home fans in Japan is high, but even if it fails, Red Bull might consider it a manageable loss long term, especially knowing his future was uncertain beyond 2025 anyway. Lawson, meanwhile, could be rehabilitated in an easier car – a sentiment echoed by Verstappen in China: “I think if you give Liam the Racing Bulls car, he’ll be quicker. I really think that.”

5. The high-pressure situation Red Bull is in

Ultimately, this move speaks volumes about the urgency Red Bull feels and the situation it is in. In the press release to announce the swap, Horner was quoted: “We came into the 2025 season, with two ambitions, to retain the world drivers’ championship and to reclaim the world constructors’ title and this is a purely sporting decision.”

Whether Tsunoda’s promotion over Lawson helps achieve those goals remains to be seen, and most likely it won’t make much of a difference, but it reflects the urgency. There’s pressure on both the driver line up and the technical team. With focus inevitably turning to 2026 at some point, Red Bull knows that the first upgrades have to be spot-on. At the same time it can’t afford too many pointless weekends with the second car if it doesn’t want to lose sight of the constructors’ title already.

Red Bull feels it has to do “something”, and without many other options on the drivers’ front, “something” is giving Tsunoda’s his long-awaited chance at the main team. The real solution, however, needs to come from car development instead of driver changes – not least to prove Verstappen that Red Bull can still turn its fortunes around. If the constant struggles with its second seat have made anything clear, it is that the problem is more in the Red Bull car, not the drivers.

In this article

Ronald Vording

Formula 1

Helmut Marko

Max Verstappen

Liam Lawson

Yuki Tsunoda

Christian Horner

Red Bull Racing

Racing Bulls

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Christian Horner/Formula 1/Liam Lawson/Red Bull

Horner said Lawson would thrive “on tracks he knows”. So why drop him now? · RaceFans

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The news Red Bull has fired Liam Lawson after just two starts for the team has been rumoured for days.

But that doesn’t make it any less of a jaw-dropping decision, particularly given how patient Red Bull was with his predecessor Sergio Perez.

Red Bull persisted so long with Perez it arguably cost them a constructors’ championship last year. When, three months ago, Red Bull finally abandoned hope he would turn another poor season around, Horner gave this explanation for why they chose Lawson, who had started just 11 grands prix, as his replacement.

“We felt that Liam’s trajectory, together with his mental strength and resilience, were the right assets to partner Max,” he said. “Because arguably that seat is the toughest in Formula 1, going up against Max Verstappen, who is at the peak of his career.”

No one could reasonably deny Verstappen is a formidable benchmark to be measured against. But Red Bull is uniquely positioned to ensure it can prepare its future drivers better than any of its rivals: It is the only team whose owner also has a second team, which is designed largely to serve that purpose. Red Bull should therefore be the last team on the grid which rushes a driver in only to axe them two rounds later.

The gulf between Lawson and Verstappen in the RB21 was undeniably wide. The newcomer was over a second slower than Verstappen in qualifying at Melbourne, and only whittled that down to three-quarters of a second in Shanghai last weekend. The gap between Lawson and Verstappen over a single lap was always greater than between any other pair of team mates.

The team has announced Yuki Tsunoda as Lawson’s replacement. There will be anxious faces on the Red Bull pit wall if he fails to get any closer than that at Suzuka next week.

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After qualifying in Australia, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown – never one to pass up an opportunity to make Horner squirm – wondered aloud why Red Bull had promoted Lawson instead of Tsunoda, who parked his car fifth on the grid. “Yuki did a great job,” Brown enthused while speaking to Sky, adding he was “probably the guy who should be in the Red Bull if you look at how he’s performed, but they seem to make some strange driver choices from time to time.”

The race ran in treacherously slippery conditions. Lawson gambled on trying to survive a rain shower on slick tyres, but spun into a wall at turn two. Afterwards Alexander Albon, who knows first-hand the difficulty of going up against Verstappen in a Red Bull, looked on his efforts sympathetically.

“It’s very early to say how he’s going to do,” he said. “I think, for everyone out there, the conditions and the general format of qualifying now make things very tight.

“Firstly, let’s start with the fact that qualifying is closer than ever, which is great for everyone. But it also means that if you’re just a little bit off, you’re likely going to be out in Q1.

“Then in the race, there’s not much to say. Everyone was struggling out there. I think, especially for the rookies and the ones with a little bit less experience, they were on the back foot for most of Sunday. So I think we need to give him a bit of time to get up to speed.”

To begin with, Horner appeared to agree with Albon’s assessment. “You can’t judge Liam on what we’ve seen so far,” he said after the race. “It’d be very unfair to do that.

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“He’s had a really difficult run so far. Let’s see about the race tomorrow, and then of course, as we get to tracks that he starts to know, I think he’ll start to come alive.”

But now we know Lawson will not make it to the tracks he knows as a Red Bull driver. What changed Horner’s mind so quickly about the importance of seeing Lawson on tracks he knows? And, perhaps more to the point, why didn’t Lawson have more relevant experience when he got the chance in the first place?

Tsunoda may be a year older than Lawson but they came up through the junior categories together. Lawson insisted he had the upper hand but realistically there was often little to separate them.

But Red Bull put Tsunoda on the fast track to F1 after he out-scored Lawson in the 2019 Formula 3 championship. They promoted him to Formula 2 the next year and Formula 1 the year after that.

Lawson’s progress was slower. He had another year in F3, then two in F2. By the end of 2022, Red Bull had a vacancy to fill at their second F1 team (then called AlphaTauri), and Lawson seemed an obvious choice for an promotion into F1.

But instead they sent him off to Japan’s Super Formula series. If, at this stage, Red Bull were seriously contemplating the possibility their junior driver might join their top team two years down the line, why didn’t they place him at other F1 squad in 2023?

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Instead, Red Bull went to some lengths to find an alternative to Lawson. They flirted with Colton Herta, despite his insufficient superlicence points tally which made him ineligible. Then they went outside their young driver programme to hire Nyck de Vries.

But less than half a season later Red Bull decided de Vries wasn’t up to scratch. By now another candidate had emerged for the seat Lawson wanted, and Daniel Ricciardo duly replaced Lawson. Fate intervened when Ricciardo injured his hand three races into his comeback and Lawson finally got his chance to make an F1 debut which, until then, Red Bull had seemed strikingly reluctant to grant.

Red Bull’s decision to axe Lawson is therefore the third peculiar call it has made regarding his career development: Why not give him an F1 drive in 2023 when the chance was there? Why promote him to Red Bull at the end of last year when Tsunoda had started eight times as many races and looked every bit as quick? And why give up on him after just two appearances, both at circuits he had no prior experience of?

Few of Red Bull’s decisions during Lawson’s career to date made much sense. If a team is cutting a driver loose after two rounds the fault clearly rests less with the driver and more on those who hired him for misjudging his preparedness so badly. The only team on the grid which enjoys the luxury of a second junior F1 squad to develop young talent has no excuse for getting this so wrong.

No doubt Horner will not enjoy being reminded his decision to drop Lawson for Tsunoda indicate Brown was right. But it’s not only Red Bull’s team principal who has a say in these calls.

Helmut Marko, the ex-F1 racer who oversees Red Bull’s young driver programme, appears to relish slating the efforts of drivers a quarter of his age. Asked before the season began to rate the rookie class of 2025 he dismissed Alpine’s Jack Doohan as a C-grade talent who would be replaced before the end of the year.

He said nothing about Lawson’s potential to complete as little as one-twelfth of the season, though. It’s surely time for a trenchant, clickbait-friendly assessment of Marko’s role in Red Bull’s failure to find an adequate team mate for its star driver.

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2025 australian grand prix/2025 F1 season/Christian Horner/Liam Lawson

Lawson ‘will come alive on tracks he knows’ says Horner after Q1 elimination · RaceFans

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner defended his new driver Liam Lawson after he was eliminated in the first round of qualifying on his debut for the team.

Lawson made a mistake on his final run in Q1 which cost him his chance to progress beyond the first round of qualifying. He lost time earlier in the day when a power unit problem prevented him running in final practice.

“It was a tough day for him because losing [final practice] at a track that he’s never raced at – he’s the only driver on the grid not to have raced here – immediately put him on the back foot,” Horner told the official F1 channel.

“His first run was pretty decent, considering the lack of mileage, but then unfortunately a lock-up on the second run, a mistake on the third run, the pressure’s just building and building at that point. So you can’t judge him on today’s performance, but hopefully he can have a reasonable run tomorrow.”

Lawson was one second slower than his team mate Max Verstappen in Q1, the largest gap between any pair of team mates who completed laps.

“Max is a machine of a team mate to be next to,” said Horner. “You can’t judge Liam on what we’ve seen so far. It’d be very unfair to do that.

“He’s had a really difficult run so far. Let’s see about the race tomorrow, and then of course, as we get to tracks that he starts to know, I think he’ll start to come alive.”

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Horner praised the drivers from Red Bull’s second team, Racing Bulls, who both qualified ahead of Lawson. Yuki Tsunoda, whom Red Bull passed over for promotion to their team this year, took fifth on the grid.

“Yuki did a great job today and I have to commend Isack Hadjar as well,” said Horner. “I thought, of the rookies, he did an outstanding job. So it’s great for that team, great for Yuki to be to be right up there ahead of the Ferraris.”

However Horner said it was too soon to suggest Red Bull had promoted the wrong driver. “We’ve got a sample of one,” he said. “You have to remember how close Liam was to him. Isack Hadjar as well is doing a great job.

“Yuki, you can see that experience is playing through now. He’s an experienced grand prix driver, and he’s using it, he’s driving with his head, he’s doing a good job, and it’s good for him to be starting at the sharp end of the grid. It’s exactly what he needs to be doing to keep saying, ‘look I’m still here’.”

Lawson admitted he was unhappy with his performance. “We expected the start of quali to be tough, to be honest,” he told Sky afterwards. “The first laps were expected to be off and then we were just planning on building through the session.

“But obviously going off on that second lap sort of put everything out of order a bit. Then the last lap was good, honestly, just until the last sector where I just had a big drop.”

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Lawson said his problem in final practice “obviously doesn’t help any of this but I also shouldn’t be going off in quali.”

He said he was on course to make a significant improvement on his final lap but struggled with his tyres in the final sector.

“Before turn nine we were about half a second up,” he said. “And then obviously we would have just kept improving.

“But I already had a snap through nine and 10, I think the tyres were already starting to drop there. That’s something we’ve just been battling this weekend and obviously something that we missed practising in P3.”

However Lawson believes Red Bull have made progress with their car. “We feel like we made a step with the car today, regardless of this. Obviously Max is in a good position so we definitely made a step and obviously the weather tomorrow is variable so let’s see.”

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2025 F1 season/Christian Horner/f1 testing/Red Bull

Horner puzzled by “oddball” timing of FIA’s new front wing tests · F1 · RaceFans

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner admitted he is puzzled by the FIA’s plan to introduce new stiffness tests on wings this year.

The sport’s governing body has confirmed it will impose tougher new rear wing tests from the first round of the championship next month. However it will wait until round nine, the Spanish Grand Prix at the end of May, to introduce new tests of front wing stiffness.

The rules are being introduced after the FIA studied the behaviour of teams’ wings at high speed last year. The governing body is concerned teams have designed them to deform at peak loads to improve top speeds, before regaining their shape when cars decelerate, to generate maximum downforce when cornering.

Horner said it will “be interesting, the effect that it has” when the new rules are introduced, but queried the decision not to change both tests from the start of the season.

“The slight oddball about it is the timing of it,” he said. “Why race nine?

“It might have been better to have addressed [it] during the off-season because [teams] end up doing two specs of wing [designs].”

However he is unsure how the change might affect the pecking order between the teams. “Who will gain or who will lose from it, I think is impossible to predict,” he said.

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Last year McLaren was one of several teams which changed the design of their rear wing after their rivals raised concerns with the FIA following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown is unconcerned by the coming change in the rules.

“I don’t think it’s a significant change for us,” he said. “I think it’s too hard to tell who wins or loses over it, because I don’t think it’s going to be a material change for anybody.

“So I’m not expecting there to be a winner and loser or some change in the pecking order at that time because of that.”

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Formula 1

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Formula 1

Why Ford settled on Red Bull F1 deal – ‘We even looked at buying our own team’

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on

The story of Ford’s return to Formula 1, from Red Bull’s point of view, is well known by now.

The Milton Keynes-based team held lengthy talks with Porsche to develop a works engine for the all-new 2026 power unit regulations, but those ultimately collapsed. The German sports car brand was keen on becoming an equal partner, including shares, but Red Bull feared losing control. And given the involvement of the Volkswagen Group – and its myriad layers of governance – Red Bull was also wary of losing its agile decision making.

Ford observed the breakdown of Red Bull’s negotiations with Porsche with keen interest and immediately saw an opportunity. “It became very clear that, at least from what we saw from the outside, that it was not going to work for Red Bull with Porsche”, Ford Motorsports director Mark Rushbrook told Motorsport.com. “I literally got Christian Horner’s email address, sent him an email and said ‘Hi, do you want to talk?’”

It led to the first conversations, about which Horner shared an amusing anecdote: “We went to a meeting at Dearborn on the way to Brazil, and met with yourself, Bill Ford and Jim [Farley]. I thought we were in good shape when Jim walked into the meeting with a Sergio Perez cap! I thought ‘Okay, we are looking pretty good here!’ You could just feel that there was a real enthusiasm from the very top of the company, from Bill Ford, who was so enthusiastic about coming back to Formula 1, and Jim, who is a racer himself.”

Things started moving quickly, although the question remains why Ford specifically chose Red Bull for its new chapter in Formula 1. Ford has a rich history in the series, including the once-omnipresent Cosworth DFV engines, although it had been absent since late 2004 when it sold the Jaguar team to none other than Red Bull.

The growing popularity of the sport and the 2026 regulations both played their part swaying opinions at the Michigan headquarters. “If you would have asked me five years ago, and actually people did ask me, ‘Is Ford going to get back into Formula 1?’ then my answer was no. At the time we didn’t think that F1 was the right place for us, but certainly things have changed afterwards”, Rushbrook said.

Red Bull Ford aandrijflijnen

“If you see how the regulations are written down for 2026 with the increase of the electrification, with the fuel changes and with the commitment to be net-zero by 2030, that aligns with a lot of our values and what is important for us. The growth of the sport plays a role as well. We go racing for innovation and for tech transfer, so transferring technology from the racetrack to the road and, if possible, the other way around as well. We also want to go racing for the ability to tell the story of our company, our people and our products. Three years ago, it became clear that things were changing and that we needed to take a serious look at Formula 1 again. And here we are.”

Ford considered buying its own team

But between the ambition of returning to F1 and actually signing a deal, there is still the step of weighing up all the options. Rushbrook revealed that Ford also looked at other options once it was clear that the company wanted to return to F1, including the possibility of buying an existing team.

“Before we had this deal with Red Bull, there were a lot of discussions going on,” he explained. “Some Formula 1 teams approached us, and we approached some teams as well. We needed to understand the landscape and the different ways to get into the sport.

“We even looked at ‘Okay, should we buy a team ourselves?’ I think we demonstrated by what this team has become, what used to be Jackie Stewart Racing and Jaguar, that this is not our core competency, right? Yes, we are in motorsports, but nowhere do we own or run a team. We always go with partners, whether it’s Dick Johnson racing in Australia, Penske in NASCAR, Bob Tasca in NHRA or M-Sport in rally.

“You can go and do your own power unit entirely by yourself or you could come in as just a customer power unit, but then Ford doesn’t have anything invested into a team itself. As soon as we saw this as an opportunity, it became clear very quickly that it was the right way to go. This opportunity allows us to partner with what we believe is the best team in the series. We are complementary, and for us that is the right way to do it.”

What is Ford actually contributing?

The big question in those early conversations was what Ford could actually bring to the Red Bull programme other than a badge and its chequebook, and how the power unit programme would be run between the two partners, with work already well under way at the team’s in-house Red Bull Powertrains division.

Red Bull Ford aandrijflijnen

My first question to Christian was ‘What are you looking for in a partner?’ and I was prepared to say what we were looking for in a partner. In the first 20 minutes of that discussion there was a very broad alignment,” Rushbrook recalled. “In that first meeting we also outlined the areas where Red Bull Racing needed help with the power unit and with the racing team, and the areas where we wanted to contribute and learn. That process continues today, although the list is longer today than during those initial discussions.”

After the first meeting, the idea was that Ford would mainly help with the electrical parts of the 2026 engine, although Rushbrook emphasizes that more is happening behind the scenes. “Additive manufacturing is a good example of that. We have good resources and materials for it. That wasn’t on the initial list, but it is happening now. The same goes for contributing to the internal combustion engine and the turbo. Those things weren’t on the initial list either, but there is a lot of knowledge that we have with modelling and testing that can help Red Bull.”

According to Rushbrook, it underlines that Ford isn’t just in it for the marketing exposure but also for the aforementioned tech transfer to its road cars. “Our main focus is on the electrification, the battery cell chemistry, the battery pack, the motor, the inverter, but also in the controls and the software. That is a big opportunity for us.”

It’s a way of working that is completely different compared to what Red Bull initially discussed with Porsche, Horner pointed out. “From the outset Mark and Jim Farley said ‘You guys do Formula 1 every day. That’s your bread and butter. We’re not going to impose our methodology on you. You tell us, how can we help? Where can we assist?’ It was very much an open book. It feels like a partnership that you’re not imposing on the engineers, which sometimes happens in these relationships, and what we were fearful of in the other option we were looking at.”

Red Bull Ford aandrijflijnen

The spirit of Mateschitz: ‘No risk, no fun’

How competitive the end product of that collaboration will be in 2026 is still unknown, although Horner admitted that he was under no illusion that the first year will be plain sailing. But he also sees an advantage for Ford, as the brand might not get publicly judged too harshly because in the current set-up it doesn’t have full responsibility over the engine. “It’s a bit like being grandparents”, Horner joked. “You get all the benefits of the kid and all the upsides, but then you give it back to the parents and you don’t have the sleepless nights and you don’t have to change the nappies, so there is a kind of analogy there.

“For us it’s just exciting to have the Blue Oval back in Formula 1. Of course, there’s risk associated with what we are doing. Taking on and doing what we are doing is insane in terms of the investment and producing our own engine, but as Dietrich Mateschitz always told us: ‘No risk, no fun’. That applies to this project, and it’s something we couldn’t have done without a like-minded partner.”

In this article

Ronald Vording

Formula 1

Max Verstappen

Liam Lawson

Christian Horner

Red Bull Racing

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Formula 1

The story behind the Red Bull and Ford deal in Formula 1

Admin
on

The story of Ford’s return to Formula 1, from Red Bull’s point of view, is well known by now.

The Milton Keynes-based team held lengthy talks with Porsche to develop a works engine for the all-new 2026 power unit regulations, but those ultimately collapsed. The German sports car brand was keen on becoming an equal partner, including shares, but Red Bull feared losing control. And given the involvement of the Volkswagen Group – and its myriad layers of governance – Red Bull was also wary of losing its agile decision making.

Ford observed the breakdown of Red Bull’s negotiations with Porsche with keen interest and immediately saw an opportunity. “It became very clear that, at least from what we saw from the outside, that it was not going to work for Red Bull with Porsche”, Ford Motorsports director Mark Rushbrook told Motorsport.com. “I literally got Christian Horner’s email address, sent him an email and said ‘Hi, do you want to talk?’”

It led to the first conversations, about which Horner shared an amusing anecdote: “We went to a meeting at Dearborn on the way to Brazil, and met with yourself, Bill Ford and Jim [Farley]. I thought we were in good shape when Jim walked into the meeting with a Sergio Perez cap! I thought ‘Okay, we are looking pretty good here!’ You could just feel that there was a real enthusiasm from the very top of the company, from Bill Ford, who was so enthusiastic about coming back to Formula 1, and Jim, who is a racer himself.”

Things started moving quickly, although the question remains why Ford specifically chose Red Bull for its new chapter in Formula 1. Ford has a rich history in the series, including the once-omnipresent Cosworth DFV engines, although it had been absent since late 2004 when it sold the Jaguar team to none other than Red Bull.

The growing popularity of the sport and the 2026 regulations both played their part swaying opinions at the Michigan headquarters. “If you would have asked me five years ago, and actually people did ask me, ‘Is Ford going to get back into Formula 1?’ then my answer was no. At the time we didn’t think that F1 was the right place for us, but certainly things have changed afterwards”, Rushbrook said.

Red Bull Ford aandrijflijnen

“If you see how the regulations are written down for 2026 with the increase of the electrification, with the fuel changes and with the commitment to be net-zero by 2030, that aligns with a lot of our values and what is important for us. The growth of the sport plays a role as well. We go racing for innovation and for tech transfer, so transferring technology from the racetrack to the road and, if possible, the other way around as well. We also want to go racing for the ability to tell the story of our company, our people and our products. Three years ago, it became clear that things were changing and that we needed to take a serious look at Formula 1 again. And here we are.”

Ford considered buying its own team

But between the ambition of returning to F1 and actually signing a deal, there is still the step of weighing up all the options. Rushbrook revealed that Ford also looked at other options once it was clear that the company wanted to return to F1, including the possibility of buying an existing team.

“Before we had this deal with Red Bull, there were a lot of discussions going on,” he explained. “Some Formula 1 teams approached us, and we approached some teams as well. We needed to understand the landscape and the different ways to get into the sport.

“We even looked at ‘Okay, should we buy a team ourselves?’ I think we demonstrated by what this team has become, what used to be Jackie Stewart Racing and Jaguar, that this is not our core competency, right? Yes, we are in motorsports, but nowhere do we own or run a team. We always go with partners, whether it’s Dick Johnson racing in Australia, Penske in NASCAR, Bob Tasca in NHRA or M-Sport in rally.

“You can go and do your own power unit entirely by yourself or you could come in as just a customer power unit, but then Ford doesn’t have anything invested into a team itself. As soon as we saw this as an opportunity, it became clear very quickly that it was the right way to go. This opportunity allows us to partner with what we believe is the best team in the series. We are complementary, and for us that is the right way to do it.”

What is Ford actually contributing?

The big question in those early conversations was what Ford could actually bring to the Red Bull programme other than a badge and its chequebook, and how the power unit programme would be run between the two partners, with work already well under way at the team’s in-house Red Bull Powertrains division.

Red Bull Ford aandrijflijnen

My first question to Christian was ‘What are you looking for in a partner?’ and I was prepared to say what we were looking for in a partner. In the first 20 minutes of that discussion there was a very broad alignment,” Rushbrook recalled. “In that first meeting we also outlined the areas where Red Bull Racing needed help with the power unit and with the racing team, and the areas where we wanted to contribute and learn. That process continues today, although the list is longer today than during those initial discussions.”

After the first meeting, the idea was that Ford would mainly help with the electrical parts of the 2026 engine, although Rushbrook emphasizes that more is happening behind the scenes. “Additive manufacturing is a good example of that. We have good resources and materials for it. That wasn’t on the initial list, but it is happening now. The same goes for contributing to the internal combustion engine and the turbo. Those things weren’t on the initial list either, but there is a lot of knowledge that we have with modelling and testing that can help Red Bull.”

According to Rushbrook, it underlines that Ford isn’t just in it for the marketing exposure but also for the aforementioned tech transfer to its road cars. “Our main focus is on the electrification, the battery cell chemistry, the battery pack, the motor, the inverter, but also in the controls and the software. That is a big opportunity for us.”

It’s a way of working that is completely different compared to what Red Bull initially discussed with Porsche, Horner pointed out. “From the outset Mark and Jim Farley said ‘You guys do Formula 1 every day. That’s your bread and butter. We’re not going to impose our methodology on you. You tell us, how can we help? Where can we assist?’ It was very much an open book. It feels like a partnership that you’re not imposing on the engineers, which sometimes happens in these relationships, and what we were fearful of in the other option we were looking at.”

Red Bull Ford aandrijflijnen

The spirit of Mateschitz: ‘No risk, no fun’

How competitive the end product of that collaboration will be in 2026 is still unknown, although Horner admitted that he was under no illusion that the first year will be plain sailing. But he also sees an advantage for Ford, as the brand might not get publicly judged too harshly because in the current set-up it doesn’t have full responsibility over the engine. “It’s a bit like being grandparents”, Horner joked. “You get all the benefits of the kid and all the upsides, but then you give it back to the parents and you don’t have the sleepless nights and you don’t have to change the nappies, so there is a kind of analogy there.

“For us it’s just exciting to have the Blue Oval back in Formula 1. Of course, there’s risk associated with what we are doing. Taking on and doing what we are doing is insane in terms of the investment and producing our own engine, but as Dietrich Mateschitz always told us: ‘No risk, no fun’. That applies to this project, and it’s something we couldn’t have done without a like-minded partner.”

In this article

Ronald Vording

Formula 1

Max Verstappen

Liam Lawson

Christian Horner

Red Bull Racing

Be the first to know and subscribe for real-time news email updates on these topics

Culture/Formula 1

F1 75’s funniest, weirdest, and wildest moments

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on

F1 75 Live at the O2 wouldn’t have felt out of place in the Hunger Games universe — the sudden appearance of a face on a massive screen as thousands cheered or booed in equal volume. 

Instead of going into a dystopian thunderdome, though, the faces were there to show off their teams’ liveries in all sorts of off-the-wall ways. From Williams’ storm troopers to Sauber’s powerful drum line, all 10 teams brought plenty of drama to the O2 arena. And then there were the bits in between the livery launches: the emcee roasting Christian Horner, Gordon Ramsay having his mic cut, and a DJ set from the alter ego of the man who composed F1’s theme song. 

Which is to say, a lot happened at the F1 75 Live event. Here are 7 of the moments — good, bad, weird, wild — from the spectacle. 

Host Jack Whitehall landed a few good jabs

Jack Whitehall

Jack Whitehall

Photo by: Getty Images

Fans were skeptical when British actor/comedian Jack Whitehall was announced as the host the day before the event. Then, with his opening monologue, he addressed the elephant in the room: that the 2025 liveries looked almost identical to last season. “You know your sport’s ridiculously minted when they book the O2 to show off cars that are the same color as last season,” White quipped before any of the cars had rolled on stage. 

Whitehall (well, probably his writers), took some strong jabs at the sports’ stars, including a mandatory dig at Christian Horner, calling him, “Geri’s plus one.” When the camera panned to a glum looking Verstappen, Whitehall said, “Cheer up Max. It could’ve been worse — we didn’t seat you next to George Russell,” referencing the pair’s possibly-squashed beef. He also urged fans to “pray for Toto Wolff,” comparing Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari to your “partner running off with an Italian stallion.” (Okay, not all the jokes were great.)

Gordon Ramsay said #!$@ the FIA (sort of)

Lando Norris, McLaren, Frederic Arnault, TAG Heuer CEO, Gordon Ramsay and George Russell, Mercedes

Lando Norris, McLaren, Frederic Arnault, TAG Heuer CEO, Gordon Ramsay and George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Getty Images

Celebrity chef and F1 super fan Gordon Ramsay was sitting in the audience, notably alongside Stefano Domenicali, when Whitehall asked the famously foul-mouthed TV personality about the FIA’s swearing ban. His response:

“Listen, I think it’s an industry language. The fact that these athletes are pushing themselves to the extreme. So sometimes if it comes out, let them be real. Let it go, come on! They’re risking their life every time. They’re traveling over 200 miles an hour. So if the sh—”.

That’s when his mic cut — though the O2 crowd roaring in approval let the FIA know where F1’s audience largely stands on the matter.

Nobody realized the Alpine DJ was the composer of the F1 theme song

Brian Tyler

Brian Tyler

Photo by: Getty Images

Fans were left baffled when a guy in full European pop DJ cosplay hit the decks ahead of Alpine’s livery reveal. Turns out the man with the slicked blonde bangs performing under the moniker “Are We Dreaming” was actually Brian Tyler, the American composer of the F1 theme song. Tyler described his set as a “modern-day Fantasia crossed with the visual spectacle of cinematic films like ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ and ‘Blade Runner.'” That messaging wasn’t exactly communicated to viewers, leaving many perplexed by a Deadmaus-esque performance mid-show. 

Machine Gun Kelly and Kane Brown sang vaguely car-related songs 

Kane Brown

Kane Brown

Photo by: Getty Images

Announced on Monday, the event’s musical lineup — aging Britpop trio Take That, American rapper Machine Gun Kelly, American country singer Kane Brown — read like an AI generated Spotify playlist. The event opened with Machine Gun Kelly rapping vague lyrics about F1 while cameras caught Lewis Hamilton scrolling on his phone in the crowd. Kelly’s hit song “Bloody Valentine” is catchy, but didn’t quite match the vibe of the evening. Especially for a crowd that probably knows him best for an exceptionally awkward grid walk moment with Martin Brundle.

(You remember: Back at the 2023 Brazilian Grand Prix, Machine Gun Kelly found himself on the live end of a Brundle mic, and proceeded to give the commentator the cold shoulder. “Someone put a microphone in my face, essentially forcing me to do a random interview when i was just trying to enjoy an event,” he wrote on X after the incident, to little sympathy.)

Country crooner Kane Brown delivered the next performance when he took the stage to sing the automotively-themed “Miles On It.” His first words, “How are we feeling F1?,” are the equivalent of showing up at Madison Square Garden and asking the crowd, “How’s it going NBA?!”. It was a poignant reminder that the Tennessee-born hitmaker maybe isn’t entrenched in the world of F1. 

None of this is a slight to Brown, MGK, or Take That, who closed out the show (minus Robbie Williams, who no longer tours with the group). It just felt like a missed opportunity for F1 to book, say, a truly iconic British performer, a more relevant American singer (Tate McRae and her hit “Sports Car” was right there), or, you know, a single woman. The bar’s set high when your arena spectacle comes a couple weeks after Kendrick Lamar blew the roof off the Super Bowl halftime show. 

Aston Martin went full James Bond 

Tems

Tems

Photo by: Getty Images

Lawrence Stroll might’ve slipped F1 a few dollars to get a sightly bigger time allotment than the other teams (for legal reasons, I’m joking). Aston’s segment featured a James Bond-inspired clip, with animated versions of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll parachuting into the O2 before the actual pair landed in the audience in the Bond-esque formal suits. The screen then cut to black and white to celebrate the history of the brand, before switching gears to an anime-inspired video teasing the 2025 livery. 

Cut to: Nigerian singer Tems, who delivered the most moving performance of the night, alongside dozens of violin players. Lance and Alonso eventually arrived on stage after slipping into their race suits, where they answered a few questions. Lance, as usual, looked like he’d rather be anywhere other than talking into a mic about Formula 1. Some things never change! 

F1 TV, but shorter and less interesting

Jack Whitehall emceed, but the event also featured F1 TV regulars Laura Winter, Ariana Bravo, and Lawrence Barretto. The trio are fantastic pundits, but time constraints meant they had only seconds with the drivers and team principals, leading to basic questions and bland answers. It didn’t help F1 75 avoid a periodic air of “FIA press conference in an arena.” 

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc played mind games

Besides Hamilton scrolling on his phone thought Machine Gun Kelly’s performance, fan videos showed him and his teammate, Charles Leclerc, playing a game of chess in the midst of the event. If nothing else, maybe a solid metaphor for how their season will go. 

Read Also:

In this article

Emily Selleck

Formula 1

Culture

Lewis Hamilton

Charles Leclerc

Christian Horner

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