A few days ago, the news that all F1 fans expected finally was announced. Sergio Perez is no longer going to be Max Verstappen’s teammate. This decision was a long time coming. Whilst Perez’s first two seasons at Red Bull Racing were acceptable, 2023 and 2024 have been awful performances. Whilst in 2023, the RB19 was so far ahead that Perez could still muster up some decent results from poor qualifying sessions, 2024 has been a case of complete exposure for the Mexican driver. As the field became closer, Sergio barely ever qualified in the top ten and usually couldn’t race his way back into the points either. He was regularly finishing behind cars that were at least half a second slower per lap than his own and singlehandedly ensured that Red Bull dropped from first to third in the championship.[1] Whilst no one expected Perez to beat Max Verstappen, one of the greatest drivers in the sport’s history, Perez only scored nine points in the last eight races, whilst Verstappen managed two wins in the same period. Perez’s experience and sponsors helped him keep his seat for far longer than a younger driver would have, but nine points in eight races is diabolical and something that Verstappen’s inexperienced past teammates never got close to.[2] The priority for Red Bull had to be replacing Perez with anyone, as nearly all the F1 drivers would have scored more points than Perez has managed recently. Yet, I still think that Red Bull, on the whole, made the wrong choice in whom they decided to promote. Rather than promoting the highly experienced Yuki Tsunoda, who just produced a fabulous season, they instead promoted his teammate, the rough diamond of Liam Lawson, who has only completed eleven grand prix. This decision baffled many fans, as it appears clear that Tsunoda is the faster driver at present. So why did Red Bull choose to promote Lawson? There are obviously many reasons behind this decision, but the three that stood out to me are:

1. Lawson has shown incredible potential during his eleven grand prix-

Liam has been incredibly close to Yuki Tsunoda in his two brief stints in the junior team. As well as that, he has had some particularly impressive race performances, such as the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix, where he had a last minute call up and proceeded to make no notable mistakes around a very windy, rainy Zandvoort,[3] the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix, where he knocked Verstappen out of qualifying and then finished the race in ninth and the 2024 United States Grand Prix, where he went from the back of the grid to ninth with better pace on older tyres than Tsunoda. From the eyes of the Red Bull executives, how close Liam has been, combined with his standout races, may imply he has more future potential, as Yuki is likely much closer to his ceiling than Liam is. I would agree that Liam Lawson has the potential to become a great Formula One driver in the future and that he has the potential to perform well next year. However, I think it would have been better for Liam’s career to give him another season in the junior team to develop as a driver. I fear that Red Bull is making the same mistake that they did when promoting Alexander Albon and Pierre Gasly, promoting an inexperienced driver with great potential into the hardest job in Formula One, being teammates with Max Verstappen.

2. Yuki Tsunoda is primarily a Honda driver, not a Red Bull one-

Yuki Tsunoda has been backed throughout his career by the Honda Formula Dream Project, a subsidiary of the Honda Group that focuses on developing young Japanese racing drivers. Whilst this was a positive for Yuki when Honda were backing Red Bull, both as an engine partner from 2019-2021 and through selling their engines to Red Bull Powertrains since, it has increasingly become a hinderance for Yuki to be seen as Honda’s project first. This is because in 2026, Honda is re-entering F1 in an active role, however this time backing Aston Martin, not Red Bull. Whilst this is unlikely to gain Yuki a seat in Aston Martin for 2026, the political situation has likely influenced the Red Bull board not to back Yuki when he could become a future rival. Whilst this is understandable from a political perspective, Red Bull should be primarily concerned about which driver is currently most likely to win the constructor’s championship, which is Yuki. Besides, if Yuki finds himself driving for a winning team, he is more likely to want to stay there than take a risk on an unproven Aston Martin, even if they are backed by Honda. I believe Red Bull are jumping the gun, rather than enticing Yuki to be loyal to them, they are guaranteeing that his only choice is his historic Honda loyalty.

3. There is a racial element behind characterisations of Yuki-

This is the issue most F1 journalists will (understandably) not discuss, but I feel it has been a factor. To be clear, I am not suggesting that the Red Bull board are racists. I am however, suggesting that the tendency to paint Yuki Tsunoda as having a particularly high temper and low composure has been influenced by racial stereotypes. There is a long history of stereotyping East Asian men as being calmer and less traditionally masculine than other men. So often when East Asian men show frustration or anger, it is perceived by people as more aggressive than when expressed by men of other races, because it is being compared against a preconceived idea of how East Asian men “should” behave. Therefore, when we hear constant comments from figures in Red Bull about how Yuki has a temper problem, when the same is not said about Max Verstappen, who is well known for his expletive laden rants, or Liam Lawson, who showed Sergio Perez the middle finger a few races ago, it becomes hard to believe that stereotyping has not played a part in people’s perception of Yuki Tsunoda. And whilst this I believe that this bias is for the most part unintentional, it has been explicitly stated by at least one figure within the Red Bull hierarchy. Back in 2022, Red Bull’s senior advisor Helmut Marko said about Yuki, ‘he’s very emotional. For a Japanese it’s more of an exception’ whilst comparing him to Red Bull junior Ayumu Iwasa, who he believed represented a more traditional Japanese individual.[4] This is an explicit expression of what I feel is implicit in many of the conversations around Yuki’s temper. To reiterate, I don’t think that there is deliberate racism behind Red Bull’s treatment of Yuki Tsunoda. But I do think that preconceived biases have played a part.

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[1] A reminder that the constructors championship determines the pay of the employees in the team, so individual team members will have lost thousands this year due to Perez’s poor performances.

[2] And Max’s previous teammates, unlike Sergio Perez, were never in championship winning cars.

[3] I’ve been to Zandvoort and can attest that it’s the windiest place I’ve ever been to. It makes Cornwall look tame in comparison.

[4] https://www.motorsportweek.com/2022/08/17/marko-tsunodas-expletive-radio-messages-went-too-far/