Sometimes, in F1, a definitive judgment requires a counterproof. At the start of the 2025 season, Red Bull was marked by the rapid demotion of Liam Lawson in favor of Yuki Tsunoda. It is important to recall that the New Zealander had initially been preferred over the Japanese driver for demonstrating greater consistency and superior long-term potential, being almost a rookie just like his Japanese colleague.
But in the first two race weekends, everything changed. The Japanese driver was hastily promoted to the senior Red Bull team after Liam Lawson consistently found himself at the back of the grid in nearly every session. Liam was immediately sent back to Racing Bulls—a sudden U-turn that highlights the confusion reigning within the Milton Keynes team.
The Dutchman’s driving style
In a past interview, Alex Albon—another talented driver “destroyed” by Max Verstappen—explained the primary difficulty in driving a Red Bull. Since the car is designed around the world champion’s driving style, the Austrian team’s single-seater has an extremely sensitive front end. The Williams driver used an analogy that clearly illustrates the concept.
Albon said that the front-end precision Max requires is comparable to a computer mouse with its sensitivity set to the maximum. Anyone who has tried this knows that the cursor moves so sharply that it becomes nearly impossible to control. This example highlights how difficult it has been for Max’s teammates to adapt to technical designs with such a pronounced characteristic.
The Dutchman’s immense talent allows him to handle this challenge, although he himself is not entirely happy about having to constantly wrestle with the steering wheel in his cars. He did so for much of the 2024 season and has continued in the same vein in the first two rounds of the current championship. This is why he has asked Red Bull for updates to address the issue.
Sergio Perez’s redemption
Within this context, Sergio Pérez’s time at Red Bull certainly deserves to be reassessed. In recent seasons, the Mexican driver has started the championship well, only to lose his way as car developments increasingly catered to the four-time world champion’s needs. Yet, at the end of last season, he exited Formula 1 through the back door.
Now, it is time to settle some scores. Checo himself likely cannot do so directly due to the non-disclosure clauses in his exit agreement with the team. However, his outspoken father has been making his views known for some time. The poor performances of Max’s teammates lead to a rather surprising conclusion.
Despite all the criticism he received, the Mexican driver was actually a great asset to the blue racing team. Given his experience and the undeniable qualities he demonstrated throughout his long career with midfield teams, Sergio’s input could have been invaluable in creating a technical platform capable of accommodating different driving styles.
And in fact, Sergio was right when, at the start of last season, he warned the team that many things needed to change. Based on this reasoning, Christian Horner’s Austrian team has shown a lack of consideration for the medium-to-long-term future—one in which, quite possibly, the Dutch ace may no longer be part of the team that nurtured him from a young age.
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