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Formula 1

How Tsunoda has shown the maturity he needs to secure his F1 future

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Yuki Tsunoda says he has reconciled himself to being beaten by Liam Lawson in the race to the seat alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull – an admission he is perhaps moving towards to dispel the doubts Red Bull’s decision makers still hold about him.

Sitting alongside new Racing Bulls team-mate Isack Hadjar, team principal Laurent Mekies and CEO Peter Bayer in a press conference ahead of the F175 season launch at London’s O2 Arena, Tsunoda was speaking to an international audience for the first time since learning that Lawson had been chosen ahead of him. It was a measure of how pressing an issue his immediate future is that this subject was the second question, beaten to pole position only by a snarky enquiry about the team’s latest name change.

Tsunoda, no doubt sensing the inevitability of this line of questioning, did not look altogether happy to be there. Indeed, his demeanour called to mind a venerable PG Wodehouse quote: “A melancholy-looking man, he had the appearance of one who has searched for the leak in life’s gas pipe with a lighted candle.”

Nevertheless, his answer was suitably phlegmatic. He had seen the decision coming and was prepared for it.

“I already kind of parked it away from my head,” he said. “The moment they [Red Bull] officially announced [Lawson], I didn’t actually feel super-super angry or disappointed. Maybe I was prepared at some point.”

The point in question was probably the very moment his long-rumoured test in a Red Bull car was announced last year, late and in a somewhat perfunctory fashion, as if it had already taken on the status of consolation prize in a TV quiz show, with Christian Horner as the host with a palliative hand on his shoulder: “Let’s see what you would have won…”

Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing RB20

Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Tsunoda was determined to apply a positive spin. His next utterance was a variety of word salad as he tried to suggest that remaining part of the Red Bull family was still “a pretty cool project”. The fact that it took him three halting attempts to get the team’s current name right before gamely plugging on with the rest of his sentence was illuminating.

This is a team which is now on its third different title since Tsunoda got his break there in 2021, and the fluidity of its nomenclature has run in parallel with the larger Red Bull organisation’s uncertainty over what its role should be. Junior-driver prep school? Fashion brand? No identity at all apart from a clunking acronym, the product of some car-crash in the marketing department between a bank app and the team’s non-name?

Tsunoda even joked about this when pitched a question regarding his need to find another team if there’s no place for him at Red Bull’s senior team in 2026: “I don’t know, maybe this team changes its name again next year and it’s a different team!”

The reality for Tsunoda is that he is already on borrowed time, since three seasons is historically as much as a Red Bull junior gets before Dr Helmut Marko, the organisation’s “driver advisor”, hits the ejector switch. 2025 will be Tsunoda’s fifth, which is indicative of many factors: the need to keep Honda on side; the absence of suitable replacement candidates as Red Bull’s feeder pipe stutters; and the indubitable fact that he was fast-tracked through European single-seater racing.

Maturity – or lack thereof – has long been cited as the principal reason for Tsunoda being passed over. And while there are those who say he has been making process in this regard, apparent evidence to the contrary keeps popping up in the form of erratic behaviour on track and peculiar rants over the team radio.

It’s said that Marko still holds out some hope – but Honda’s move to Aston Martin from 2026 removes an important reason for keeping Tsunoda in the mix. Tsunoda also believes that he can build a case to stay on: “I would love to be part of this team, I’m going to stick to what I’m doing. I understand why they chose Liam. It is what it is. There are things I can’t control… I just need to keep focused on what I’m doing, prove myself more.”

Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team

Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

All the greatest sportspeople grasp the importance of understanding the difference between what is and isn’t controllable, and focusing on what you can control. Absorbing the reasons Red Bull chose Lawson over him – after much dither and delay – represents a very powerful change in his mindset.

If Tsunoda can spend this season doing just that – maximising his own potential and demonstrating it, rather than waiting with increasing impatience for a decision which may never come – he is on the way to becoming a more complete driver.

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Getting the better of Hadjar will be an important measure, but Tsunoda has already seen off Nyck de Vries and Daniel Ricciardo with no reward. Plus Arvid Lindblad, Red Bull’s next big hope, has been promoted to Formula 2 this season and will be knocking on the door.

Perhaps, despite his manifest determination to stay in the family, Tsunoda would be better rewarded if he invested some of the time afforded to him this season in looking for alternatives.

As he says himself in his own unique idiom: “So, yeah, whatever happens, you know, there can be interesting options…”

In this article

Stuart Codling

Formula 1

Yuki Tsunoda

Red Bull Racing

RB

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Formula 1

How Mercedes aims to avoid the “traps” it has fallen into with recent F1 car designs

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Ever since Formula 1 reintroduced ground-effect underbody aerodynamics into its ruleset, Mercedes has unwittingly ensconced itself within the pitfalls that the aero overhaul had laid out.

A series of design direction changes over the past three years have brought glimmers of hope with each new car, but in each time Mercedes has tripped itself up with inconsistencies in car characteristics.

The Brackley squad is hoping that bad luck, per the general consensus, comes in threes; George Russell believes that the incoming W16 – due to be launched prior to the Bahrain pre-season test – should clear any of the “traps” of which the team has previously fallen foul.

At F1’s 75th anniversary launch event, Russell explained that the team had perhaps been guilty of becoming too blinkered by solving the problems that had become apparent, with limited foresight into the consequences that any design changes had. 

This stretches back to its problematic W13, its first iteration of machinery developed for the current generation of cars. As Russell explained, the team “couldn’t unpick what was bouncing and what were poor characteristics within the car”, leading to a lengthy battle against the 2022 car’s propensity to unlock its natural heave frequency in spine-shattering fashion. 

The team then decided that its slimline sidepods were not the way to go, instead opting for a more conventional set of sidepods part-way through the follow-up W14’s development process in 2023. 

George Russell, Mercedes W13

George Russell, Mercedes W13

Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images

Once it had seemed to solve that through changing the car’s aerodynamic properties, it found that its suspension layout was not conducive to getting the most out of the underbody aero and the team spent that year running the car slightly higher up versus its rivals.

It felt empowered to run the car lower in 2024, having worked on that suspension issue – but Russell then noted that this produced a knock-on effect of inducing inconsistent balance.

“These things, it does just take time,” Russell explained. “And I think when something clicks and something works, you sometimes also don’t know quite why that is – we went to Vegas last year and dominated.

“I’d love to tell you exactly why that is. We’ve got some ideas why that could be, but there’s not like a silver bullet saying that is the reason why we were so strong there, and the reason we were so weak elsewhere. But I think that’s the case with everyone – even McLaren, prime example: I don’t think even they believed they could find performance that they did. 

“It’s just all got to work together. But I’m much more confident we’re not going to fall into a trap as we have in the previous years.”

With infinite time, engineering a solution to a problem should come with an exploration of its side-effects. F1 teams don’t have that luxury; lead times are short and expectations are of an immediate fix.

That lends credence to Russell’s assertion that “we’ve been so focused on solving the problem, we weren’t looking ahead to what future issues it would cause”. Think of it like Whack-A-Mole – you knock one mole down, and another springs up…

George Russell, Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

George Russell, Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Getty Images

There is anecdotal evidence of the simulation tools that F1 teams use not showing the full picture; given the restriction of wind tunnel scales and air speeds, allied to the lack of testing under completely realistic conditions, certain flaws are glossed over by the data.

Can a team realistically build a fully complete aero map if a wind tunnel or CFD simulation can’t allow for a car to yaw at 200mph? Certainly not. It can offer hints, but a car’s characteristics are dynamic and thus issues can sometimes only crop up when it hits the circuit in anger.

For Mercedes, 2025 will need to be an exercise in broadening the engineers’ minds beyond the original face-value issues. If it changes the suspension characteristics, how will that affect the chassis response? How will it affect the aero balance? Do more problems appear as a result?

It’s not that Mercedes hasn’t considered all of those things but, in trying to press a solution in place, perhaps the thinking is that it might be able to mitigate whatever consequences occur with set-up – only, to find out that they’re issues that require more attention than a bit of extra toe-in or camber in the usual free-practice tinkering.

“When you’re changing characteristics of the car and how it’s going to handle and how it’s going to feel for us driving it, if you make the front stronger, it’s going to take away from the rear. And if you go too far, that’s just as much of a problem in the opposite direction,” Russell added.

“So I think it’s really being thorough in the centre. These are the fundamental changes we’re going to make. We think it’s going to do X. Is that going to be a problem at these races? And if so, how are we going to drive around it?”

Mercedes, per Russell, feels that its incoming W16 should be a more amenable chassis that doesn’t end up being quite so capricious at a certain range of circuits. For his own ambitions, Russell will hope that the new car isn’t quite such a high-wire act to master – for newbie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, a neutral car is the best platform for him to learn – and ply – his trade. 

Although the Silver Arrows may end up becoming one of the teams that pins its attentions on 2026 early, depending on how the early rounds go, it needs to at least close 2025 having not only fully understood those “traps” it has unwittingly walked into previously, but also evaded with its final effort in this rules cycle.

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In this article

Jake Boxall-Legge

Formula 1

George Russell

Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

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Formula 1

What Doohan’s blunt response to Colapinto replacement rumours revealed about Alpine’s driver situation

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Alpine driver Jack Doohan has issued a firm riposte to questions about his long-term Formula 1 future with Alpine after Franco Colapinto joined the team as a reserve driver over the off-season – pointing out he was in the Argentine’s exact position a year ago.

Alpine signing temporary 2024 Williams driver Colapinto as one of its reserves this year added fuel to rumours that suggested Doohan only has a few races confirmed with the Enstone-based squad this season.

This is reminiscent of talk in the F1 paddock about ex-Williams driver Logan Sargeant possibly being replaced early last season, well before Colapinto eventually got his seat.

However, in Doohan’s case, the Australian has started just one F1 race – a surprise one-off at the end of the 2024 season in place of Haas-bound Esteban Ocon.

Doohan has since pressed on with the usual off-season preparation ahead of making his full F1 bow in 2025 after he spent the early part of the European winter back home in Australia.

He is said to have already formed a strong bond with new team-mate Pierre Gasly – with the pair attending the Autosport Awards last month sporting identical buzzcuts and joking with each other throughout the evening.

Pierre Gasly, Flavio Briatore, Jack Doohan

Pierre Gasly, Flavio Briatore, Jack Doohan

Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images

But as they appeared in front of the F1 press corps for the first time together as full Alpine race drivers ahead of the F175 event at London’s O2 arena, it was clear that Doohan had a plan to address the Colapinto rumours.

When asked if the reserve driver’s deal – which was unusually announced as a multi-year arrangement with Williams back early January – added extra pressure going into his full rookie season, Doohan replied: “No.

“I’ve been told he’s a reserve driver. And I think, regardless, you’re one of 20 Formula 1 drivers in the world. I know when I was a go-karter [and] in Formula 3, Formula 2 – I would do anything to be in Formula 1 and sacrifice everything.

“I don’t think necessarily, if it’s someone inside the team, outside the team, anyone that’s performing well, you’re always going to have pressure on your shoulders because you’re in such a cut-throat sport.

“But whatever pressure there may be, I look forward to enjoying that – embracing it and just enjoying my Formula 1 season.”

Doohan then gave short-shrift to an immediate follow-up question on the same topic – the Australian initially questioning the framing with a withering “is that a question?” – that asked if he felt undermined by Colapinto’s presence at Alpine as a “21-year-old reserve driver with a long-term contract”.

He then pointed out, politely but firmly, that he had been in Colapinto’s exact position the previous year, plus before that McLaren star Oscar Piastri.

Franco Colapinto, Alpine F1 Team

Franco Colapinto, Alpine F1 Team

Photo by: Alpine

“I was a 21-year-old reserve driver last year,” said Doohan. “With a long-term contract. But no, I don’t. Maybe I should? I don’t know. I don’t really understand that as a question, but yeah, definitely not.”

An Alpine press attache then shut down a third question on the topic, which Autosport understands was part of the team’s pre-press conference plan to only allow two questions on the topic.

This demonstrates that it is a hot topic for Alpine, which has also signed Toyota World Endurance driver Ryo Hirakawa as cover for the 2024 campaign.

Autosport understands this is because Hirakawa has been presented with his current Alpine deal being framed as a real chance to earn a race drive in 2026.

This suggests Colapinto has been offered at least the same, if not the possibility of driving earlier, which overall amps up the pressure on Doohan before the 2025 campaign has even started.

Gasly, after all, is key to the team’s long-term future and produced one of his best season’s since he clinched a win and podiums for AlphaTauri back in 2020-2021.

But while this appears to be a perilous position for Doohan – Alpine team boss Oliver Oakes has already insisted he would get a “fair chance” to impress.

Jack Doohan, Alpine A524

Jack Doohan, Alpine A524

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

And the team’s plan and actions in facing the media at the O2 on Tuesday also demonstrate that, right now at least, it is not going to hang Doohan out to dry.

Gasly, for his part, said in a session with French media that “I know Jack and I want him to do the best he can”.

“I know he’s a great person and a great driver; I’ve seen him develop and we’ve given him his chance,” he added. “I won’t comment any further. As a rookie, it’s never easy to get into F1, and there’s no need to make things more complicated than they need to be.”

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Gasly’s support is also reminiscent of how he gelled well with Yuki Tsunoda during their time as team-mates at what is now called the Racing Bulls squad, as Tsunoda initially struggled to adapt to life as an F1 driver.

He has since gone on to secure his place at Racing Bulls and, although there is little chance he will get promoted to the senior Red Bull team, has completed four full seasons despite the risk to his position within a programme that famously offers little reassurance for drivers.

In this article

Alex Kalinauckas

Formula 1

Jack Doohan

Franco Colapinto

Alpine

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Culture/Formula 1

Where to watch, what to expect, and why it exists

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Formula 1 is about to host its first-ever season livery launch party in London. Technically the event is called “F1 75 Live at The O2” — landing, as it is, at the outset of the 75th season in the sport’s history. At the centerpiece of the event, all 10 F1 teams will take their turn unveiling their car (or their car’s main livery, at least) for the 2025 season — on a stage, in a massive arena, as well as in front of a global audience of millions. 

Given this is the first-ever event of it kind, the only concrete details we have are the ones we’ve been given by F1 itself.

Here’s everything you need to know about the F1 75 Live event at The O2 Arena in London:

When is the F1 75 Live event?

Everything kicks off at 5:30pm GMT, and the event is scheduled to last for five hours. 

How can I watch it?

 

Unless you were one of the lucky few to grab arena tickets in the literal minutes before they sold out, you can watch along on F1’s YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook pages.

What is the plan for the F1 75 Live event?

Traditionally, each team pulls the covers off its new cars in their own ways: a racetrack with a few media in attendance, or in more recent (and boring) ways, as an email or social media post with a few images of the new car’s paintwork and some canned driver quotes.

This time, Formula 1 has stepped in to bring all the teams together on one night in London in front of a live audience with musical acts, streaming the show for free. Though the event is fronting F1’s 75th anniversary, think of F1 75 Live more as an opening ceremony than a birthday party. 

More importantly, it’s F1’s chance to build up — and, possibly, better control — the biggest moment before cars hit the track for pre-season testing. By turning the normally workaday livery launches into a spectacle, there’s a chance to invent something of a 25th audience-friendly event in a schedule already stuffed with races. And, given the musical performances (more on those in a moment), there’s a chance to do something that’s a little more loose, and globally pop cultural, than the usual nose-down focus of a race weekend. 

How will the event go?

All 20 drivers will be there, plus the team bosses — as well as, of course, the new 2025 F1 cars.

Each team will have a seven minute segment on the O2 stage to do what they wish, meaning we are in for a range of interpretations when it comes to a livery launch. It’s worth noting: in advance of F1 75 Live, we’ve already seen both Williams and McLaren unveil their car designs — but not the liveries the cars will wear. For the other eight teams, everything we see will be new.

The running order will be the reverse of last season’s constructors’ championship standings, meaning the evening will kick off with Sauber and end with McLaren.

If you’re doing the math, 10 teams multiplied by seven minutes doesn’t nearly fill up a five-hour arena-sized production. That’s where the host and musical acts come into play.

What artists are performing at F1 75 Live?

F1 75 Live's musical line-up

F1 75 Live’s musical line-up

Photo by: Formula 1

F1 finally announced the event’s musical line-up on Monday, and it’s quite the varied bill. There’s American country singer Kane Brown and rapper mgk (formerly known as Machine Gun Kelly), who had a famous interaction with Sky F1’s Martin Brundle during the 2023 Sao Paulo GP that led to the two falling out.

Also performing are UK pop legends Take That, who these days perform as a trio, minus Robbie Williams.

Composer Bryan Tyler, who produced the F1 theme, will also provide the musical backdrop.

Who is hosting?

F1 75 Live Host

F1 75 Live Host

Photo by: Formula 1

The main emcee for the evening is Jack Whitehall, a London-born comedian and actor who is likely unrecognisable to the rest of the world save those who have seen “Jungle Cruise.”

Of course, since this is an F1 event, we’ll also see familiar faces from its broadcast channels, including Laura Winter and Lawrence Barretto. One we won’t see: Will Buxton, who left F1 TV to join Fox Sport’s IndyCar coverage for 2025.

Is there a way to make Lewis Hamilton central to this moment?

Absolutely. The F1 75 Live event will be Lewis Hamilton’s first public appearance with Ferrari. Expect this to generate its own flurry of headlines and social posts. 

What about the other 19 teams and drivers?

Every team, aside from McLaren and Aston Martin, have a new driver lineup in whole or in part, so we’ll get to see drivers wearing new uniforms and how those relationships are building up.

What’s the deal with the O2 Arena?

The O2 Arena is a large, multi-purpose arena located in east London, sitting beside the River Thames. It has the third-highest seating capacity of any indoor venue in the UK, with a capacity of 20,000. Originally it was called the Millennium Dome, but given how time operates, that quickly turned into a white elephant until sponsorship arrived from communication firm O2.

Whatever the name, the arena was (in 2023) the third-busiest music in the world, behind New York’s Madison Square Garden and the Movistar Arena in Chile. Which is to say, F1 didn’t skimp on the party’s location.

 

 

In this article

Ben Hunt

Formula 1

Culture

Fernando Alonso

Lewis Hamilton

Nico Hulkenberg

Carlos Sainz

Max Verstappen

Esteban Ocon

Pierre Gasly

Lance Stroll

George Russell

Charles Leclerc

Alex Albon

Lando Norris

Liam Lawson

Jack Doohan

Isack Hadjar

Yuki Tsunoda

Oscar Piastri

Oliver Bearman

Gabriel Bortoleto

Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Ferrari

Red Bull Racing

Mercedes

Sauber

McLaren

Racing Bulls

Williams

Aston Martin Racing

Haas F1 Team

Alpine

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Formula 1

Jack Whitehall to host F175 as Take That among artists to perform

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On the eve of its livery launch event at London’s O2 Arena, Formula 1 has announced that British comedian and actor Jack Whitehall will host the show.

The F175 celebration will see all 10 teams unveil their livery for the 2025 season, with each squad given seven minutes on stage to do so.

Autosport revealed last month what fans can expect from the evening, while on Monday morning F1 confirmed Whitehall as host, as well as announcing Take That, Kane Brown, mgk and Brian Tyler’s ‘Are We Dreaming’ will also perform on the night. 

Whitehall, who has previously hosted the BRIT Awards and is known for starring in sitcoms such as Fresh Meat and Bad Education, is looking forward to taking to the stage.

“As soon as I heard about F175 Live at The O2 I knew I wanted to be involved,” he said. “It promises to be a truly unique show, bringing together the cars and stars of Formula 1 with incredible global musicians and entertainment to celebrate 75 years of this incredible sport.

“I can’t wait to get on stage and bring the show to everyone at The O2 and those watching at home around the world.”

F1 75 Live global music line-up

F1 75 Live global music line-up

Photo by: Formula 1

With each team planning their own seven-minute segment and all 20 drivers scheduled to be in attendance, the event marks the beginning of F1’s 75th anniversary celebrations.

Williams and McLaren launched their 2025 challengers during separate events at Silverstone last week, although both had to use a temporary livery to show off their latest cars.

The event sold out in less than 45 minutes, with the level of interest also measurable in how quickly some tickets appeared on resale sites at inflated value – a move which F1 said would see entry blocked for those purchasing by such means.

Take That, now appearing as a trio with Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald, have had 12 UK number-one singles and topped the UK album chart on nine occasions.

US country performer Brown has over 20 billion streams worldwide, while mgk – previously known as Machine Gun Kelly – has two consecutive number one albums.

Tyler, meanwhile, composed the official F1 theme and will appear at the O2 as his alter-ego ‘Are We Dreaming’ to deliver an immersive performance.

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In this article

Mark Mann-Bryans

Formula 1

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Formula 1/MotoGP

The lessons F1 can learn from MotoGP’s season launch

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If MotoGP’s season launch is anything to go by, then Formula 1 could also be on to a winner.

When both series announced plans for a 2025 season kick-off event last year, it was met by some reservations, especially within the media and the teams, as to whether it would be worth it.

MotoGP had confirmed its plans first and that the event would be held in Bangkok ahead of the season opener in Thailand, whereas F1 has opted to hold its launch event in London next Tuesday at the O2 Arena, a week ahead of testing in Bahrain.

There were understandable concerns that by holding a single event featuring all teams it would mean the smaller outfits would not enjoy a day of media coverage as perhaps they would have done in the past – had they decided to all launch on alternative days.

Logistically too, getting to a location, be it Bangkok or London, at a particular point someway ahead of the actual race or test would also cause somewhat of a travel headache.

But that said, if the F1 launch event proves as popular as the event last Sunday in Thailand, then it is something that is worth all that pain.

Jack Miller, Pramac Racing

Jack Miller, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Dorna

Sure, the MotoGP launch was not perfect. There was little time for a run-through and it showed at times, with riders being ushered here and there, all within shot of the TV cameras.

One of the event’s hosts, a DJ called Piyawat Kempetch, read his opening lines off the back of a notepad and at one point referred to the MotoGP bikes as a ‘bicycle’, which was amusing.

There was also no world champion either as Jorge Martin missed the event after he underwent surgery on his right hand following a testing accident in Malaysia.

However, what it lacked in a slick presentation it made up for in an abundance of colour and character – and central to it were the riders.

There were smoke-ballooning burnouts, ear-splitting revving of each new MotoGP bike and plenty of interaction with fans that had lined the streets.

It was good old-fashioned promotion that was seamlessly streamed across Instagram, X, Facebook and other websites, including Autosport and Motorsport.com.

The bikes on the way to the launch

The bikes on the way to the launch

Photo by: MotoGP

There is always resistance to something new, but judging from the riders’ reactions, they enjoyed the season launch and fully embraced it.

It is now up to F1’s drivers to do the same. It is inevitable there will be some pushback about the event in London coming so close to testing and another 24-race season, but this promotion is what is required to maintain that level of interest and keep the series in the public eye.

MotoGP’s riders were open to that and acutely aware of how the series is trying to grow, particularly under Liberty Media’s pending ownership.

F1’s stars now have to do the same. Yes, it is a full day in London where they would probably much rather be elsewhere, but those drivers, teams and some sections of the media need to realise this is exactly the event that F1 and MotoGP should be doing to engage with new audiences and across multiple platforms.

This is about taking motorsport off the track and into city centres and trying to reach a newer and younger market. And that is something everyone needs to embrace, rather than criticise.

That said, it is now up to F1 to ensure that they hit the right note and deliver an event that targets the audience they are trying to appeal to.

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In this article

Ben Hunt

Formula 1

MotoGP

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