Ex-Formula 1 Team Principal Guenther Steiner believes Red Bull made a mistake by choosing Liam Lawson over Yuki Tsunoda to partner with Max Verstappen next season.
After just six races with RB, now named Racing Bulls for 2025, Lawson was handed the second seat at Red Bull.
Sergio Perez was axed after an abysmal year with the Milton Keynes-based outfit – just the six top-five finishes all season for the Mexican driver.
Tsunoda took part in the post-season test in Abu Dhabi as he drove, for the first time, a contemporary Red Bull F1 car.
Despite feeling he had done enough to impress the Red Bull hierarchy to earn the coveted seat, the Japanese racing driver was overlooked by team principal Christian Horner.
The Kiwi was given the chance to race alongside the four-time World Champion as Horner admitted that he deserved the seat over his RB team-mate.
However, Steiner disagrees as he feels Tsunoda deserved at least a year in the seat to prove his worth to Red Bull, stating the decision to pass on him was wrong.
“I don’t think that was the perfect choice,” Steiner told GPblog.
“Everything was a compromise, it’s one of [those] choices.
“I’m in the opinion that [Tsunoda] should have been given the chance.
“I don’t say deserved because you don’t deserve anything, I always say.
“But would have been a better bet, say we put him in the car one year, and see how he’s doing.
“If he’s not good, let him go.
“Now he’s sitting another year in the Racing Bull, and it’s not motivational for the guy as well.”
Steiner questions the purpose of Red Bull’s sister team
Many drivers have come and gone at the Red Bull family; Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz to name a few.
Both Gasly and Albon were given a chance at the main team but failed to impress in comparison to Verstappen as the pair were swiftly moved on.
History could be repeating itself as Horner conceded after the season that the team may have to let Tsunoda go if no opportunity arises within the Red Bull family in 2025.
Steiner argues why the 51-year-old didn’t decide to part ways with him after denying him a seat with the six-time Constructors’ Champions.
“He’s doing more of the same, but he’s not exposed to make the step,” he explained.
“It’s like he’s not given the opportunity, so why keep him around? I don’t know.”
The former team boss thinks for a moment and then says: “His fifth year in the junior team, right?
”Is it a junior team, or what is it?”
Recent reports suggest that Tsunoda will be the reserve team driver for Red Bull in 2025.
It is a make-or-break season for the 24-year-old considering his future with the F1 family – as his chances rely on the progress of Lawson next season.
He will also have to contest with a new team-mate at the sister team in Isack Hadjar, who was promoted from Formula 2 after finishing as the runner-up to Sauber-F1 bound Gabriel Bortoleto.
READ MORE: Yuki Tsunoda set to be Red Bull reserve driver for 2025 F1 season
