Early concerns emerge over Tsunoda Red Bull demise

Early concerns have emerged over Yuki Tsunoda's promotion to drive for Red Bull Racing from the Japanese Grand Prix and beyond, as Formula 1 experts weigh in on the latest driver reshuffle among the Red Bull ranks.

The Japanese racer will debut with Red Bull's main team at his home race next weekend after Christian Horner, Helmut Marko and their junior team bosses at Racing Bulls opted to trigger a driver swap just two rounds into the 2025 season.

Liam Lawson got the call-up over former team-mate Tsunoda following the conclusion of the 2024 season, with Horner deciding that a change was needed to prevent his team from dropping further in the constructors' standings in 2025.

Lawson struggled to adapt to the Red Bull machinery and failed to score any championship points for the team during the first two rounds, whereas Tsunoda has continued to show signs of improvement both in his demeanour and out on track, prompting a ruthless driver swap.

Is there cause for concern if Tsunoda can't adapt to Red Bull?

Although Red Bull didn't confirm the news officially until the morning of March 27, 2025, there were rumours as early as Sunday night following the Chinese GP, where Lawson failed to finish anywhere near the top 10 yet again.

Speaking on the driver swap before it had been confirmed, former F1 star and analyst Jolyon Palmer revealed his own concerns over the potential promotion for Tsunoda.

"If Tsunoda gets the call up for his home race, it’s certainly plausible that he might actually fall down the pecking order, at least in qualifying, considering the Racing Bulls car is phenomenally quick at the moment," the British racer explained.

Palmer himself raced in F1 between 2016 and 2017, but has now found a well-earned spot among the F1 broadcasting and publishing lineup, lending his own experience in the pinnacle of motorsport to critical writing and presenting.

The former Renault star continued to explain that the Racing Bulls machinery appears faster than the Red Bull in qualifying following an impressive performance for Tsunoda in Melbourne which saw him qualify within 0.2 seconds of Verstappen.

This raises a potential issue facing Tsunoda in the coming weeks and months - if the RB21 is as hard to master as claimed by Lawson and Sergio Perez before him, could Red Bull end up killing his career for good and bringing Lawson back into the fold in the future once he has gained more experience with the junior outfit?

Palmer continued to share his worries, adding: "It’s a tough decision to make, and it seems Red Bull have backed themselves into a corner. Having overlooked Yuki at the end of last year, I’d be tempted to stick it out with Liam for a little longer and see if he can find his feet, at a circuit he knows well on a conventional weekend for once. If they gamble with Yuki, then it simply has to work."

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