Red Bull Advisor Helmut Marko has revealed why the team picked Liam Lawson over Yuki Tsunoda ahead of the 2025 Formula 1 campaign.
Red Bull elected to part ways with Sergio Perez after the Mexican’s torrid run of form at the end of the 2024 season.
It’s no secret that Lawson’s promotion to Racing Bulls in favour of Daniel Ricciardo was to measure him up against Tsunoda to see if he was a viable candidate for the Red Bull seat in 2025.
Ultimately, Red Bull decided the Kiwi was worthy and he will partner with Max Verstappen next year.
This comes despite Tsunoda edging Lawson in both race and qualifying head-to-head across the final six rounds of 2024.
However, Marko revealed to F1-Insider.com that Lawson was chosen thanks to a higher ceiling, saying: “The engineers presented comparative figures, which we used as the basis for the decision.
“In principle it was a luxury problem, both would have deserved the promotion,” Marko added.
“But Lawson may have more room for improvement in the future.
“It was his mental strength in particular that tipped the scales in the end.”
Tsunoda’s temperament has long been a factor that Marko felt needed improving despite the Japanese driver’s progress on that front.
Moreover, Lawson has 11 starts to Tsunoda’s 87, but Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner told ESPN “With Liam, when you look and go into the analytics of his race, pace was slightly better [than Tsunoda] in the races that he did.
“His qualifying pace was very tight with Yuki, and you’ve got to assume that the potential with Liam having only done 11 Grands Prix, is he’s only going to get better and stronger.”
How Yuki Tsunoda responded to Red Bull spurning
Tsunoda will now undertake a fifth campaign in the Red Bull sister team, Racing Bulls, in 2025.
After many years of plying his trade in the outfit designed to promote Red Bull talent, the Japanese driver has every right to be disappointed.
Marko, however, said the Japanese driver took the news in his stride and has put the onus on Tsunoda to make sure he’s ready if a Red Bull opportunity comes his way at long last.
“He’s in Japan at the moment and I spoke to him on the phone,” Marko said.
“He was relatively relaxed about the news.
“I told him that he should continue to step on the gas with the Racing Bulls and then we’ll see.
“He reacted positively.”
READ MORE – Red Bull admits choosing Liam Lawson over Yuki Tsunoda was a ‘tight’ call
