The start of the 2025 Formula One season wasn't what Red Bull wanted.
After two race weekends, the Bulls sat third in the constructors' championship standings, looking up at both Mercedes and McLaren. McLaren has a pair of wins to start the title defense, while Red Bull has a second driver lineup. There is news that Liam Lawson has been demoted to the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls.
His weekly writing SpeedWeek column Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marco opened up about the Switch about the team's start of the season and this week about the Red Bull Conference, where the team reassured Verstappen about the plan for RB21, the 2025 campaign challenger.
“On the weekend of his first race in Australia, Liam suffered a turbo breakdown in his third practice session. He couldn't complete a lap. From that moment on, the pressure on him was even more.
“This trend continued in China. Liam had to act before he lost all his confidence. In this context, we must not forget that his career is not over. He is back in the Racing Bulls, where he has a car that can always score points.
Marco then dismissed criticism that the Switch was unusual, noting that the team had done this with other drivers still on the grid.
“Overall, Lawson's confidence has steadily declined, and it was clear. When he tried to push the pace, a mistake was made,” Marco continued.
“The change in Lawson's position is not uncommon. We've done the same thing before with Pierre Guthrie and Alex Albon, both of which are Formula 1 drivers with successful careers.”
But whether or not you find the argument persuasive is certainly debatable.
Marco then turned his attention to Tsunoda and “knowing” who might question why he wasn't promoted to Red Bull when the team broke up with Sergio Perez. From Marco's perspective, the veteran driver has made great strides this season with consistency, development and “physical preparation.”
“Of course, there are many people I know now who disagree. Why wasn't Tsunoda given preference from the start? That's because Yuki's career often had ups and downs. He didn't have an accurate image of reliability and consistency.
“Yuki provided an impressive performance over the weekend of his first two races. So, he made Lawson stand out later in the 2024 season and now we're watching with Yuki.”
Regarding the RB21, the 2025 team's car, Marko admitted that the Challenger has a narrow operating window.
“Another problem, and the problem that Sergio Perez, who has all his experience, had to deal with in 2024, was that Red Bull racing cars with its narrow optimal operating range would be difficult to drive,” Marco began.
“After two race weekends, we can talk about the characteristics and competitiveness of the RB21. We're behind McLaren. It's difficult to drive a car and set up isn't easy at all.
“But we saw it later in the Chinese race. If things went well, he's now on hard tires, like Verstappen did at the end of the race, and he can drive as fast as the leader. [Oscar] Piastri certainly wasn't pushing the pace,” the Red Bull Advisor continued.
“Our mistake was mid-hard tyres in the first part of a race in China. Max was too careful based on his experience from the only free practice session where the front tires deteriorated very early on. Barstappen still had that in mind.
Marco then turned to a highly controversial meeting this week. According to the Red Bull senior figure, the four-time champions showed the development plans for the RB21 and the “specific” improvements the team is making in their cars.
“After returning from China, a meeting was held at Milton Keynes, exploring how RBR could win again. It was a good conversation between Max and the engineer. It was able to show the general direction of development for race cars and the specific improvements to the car are being made,” writes Marco.
Interestingly, Marco saved his biggest admiration for VCarb rookie Isack Hadjar. Hager's formation lap spin ahead of the Australian Grand Prix knocked him out of his Formula 1 debut before it began. However, Marco pointed out that Hager was “one of the surprises” of the 2025 Formula One season. SpeedWeek column.
“Hager handled slip-ups with Melbourne's slippery white lines. But he was surprisingly strong in qualifying there,” Marco wrote. “He certainly would have scored his first points in China, but due to a failed strategy. For me, Isack is one of the surprises of this first part of the season. He wasn't familiar with China either, but he drove at the level of Yuki – very impressive.”
Red Bull will be returning at the Japanese Grand Prix with a new driver lineup next weekend.
