Helmut Marko: Replacing Tsunoda 'would make no sense'

On paper, Tsunoda’s experience (at least, relative to Lawson) meant he was better quipped for this challenge.

However, aside from massively hurting Lawson’s trajectory, Red Bull’s U-turn meant that Tsunoda was put into a notoriously difficult car with virtually no preparation.

Since joining the Milton Keynes outfit, it is true the #22 driver has shown flashes of pace.

His performances in Bahrain and Miami, in addition to his Jeddah qualifying, were all encouraging indications of his progression.

Unfortunately for Tsunoda, his trajectory has stalled at Red Bull – with the RB21 proving increasingly difficult to overcome.

To make matters worse, Red Bull are losing ground in the development war to McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes.

This makes life even more difficult for the Japanese driver. In Austria, for example, he was only two tenths slower than Verstappen in Q1. Ordinarily, this would be enough to make the second part of qualifying without issue.

In today’s grid, with Red Bull slowly falling down the pecking order, this is no longer the case.

With upgrades, though often ineffective ones, arriving to the RB21 with regularity, Tsunoda’s task of adaptation becomes even more complicated.

Marko: Tsunoda lacks confidence

Since joining AlphaTauri in 2021, there have been plenty of critics about Tsunoda.

Whilst his consistent results in 2023 and 2024 were largely applauded, he received significant scrutiny in his rookie season.

Even after establishing himself at VCARB, the Japanese driver was given several teammates (De Vries, Ricciardo, Lawson) before eventually being considered for a Red Bull seat.

Among this often sceptical environment, Tsunoda has enjoyed relatively consistent support from Helmut Marko.

The 81-year-old came to Tsunoda’s defence last weekend, dismissing suggestions of another mid-season swap:

“Yuki lacks confidence,” he told Sky Germany.

“We have to think about how to stabilise him, so he can deliver the performance he partially showed in Free Practice throughout the weekend.”

In previous weeks, Marko has outlined the key problem Red Bull must solve:

“The main problem is that our car has too narrow a working window,” he told ORF.

“You could see that clearly. When McLaren slides, the car corrects itself easily.

“With us, it’s always a tightrope walk between going off and just barely keeping it together.”

Considering that numerous Red Bull drivers have complained about similar problems in recent years, it is unlikely the factory in Milton Keynes can find a fundamental solution – especially as 2026 development becomes the priority.

Instead, more experience in the RB21 and finding a larger operating window is likely Tsunoda’s best chance of finding his feet.