The interim assessment of the cockpit swap between Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda at Red Bull and Racing Bulls after three race weekends in Formula 1
Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda have already completed three race weekends in their new environments. Time to take stock of how the New Zealander and the Japanese driver have fared so far after the cockpit swap ordered by Red Bull.
After his move to Racing Bulls, Lawson has managed to regain some of his old confidence – even if he is currently still largely playing second fiddle to Formula 1 newcomer Isack Hadjar while getting used to the VCARB 02.
Penalties have largely limited Lawson’s opportunities to show what he can do. However, he also struggled to keep up with Hadjar’s race pace.
Overall, the Frenchman has been the stronger driver compared to Lawson so far. Take the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, for example: Hadjar passed Fernando Alonso early on and was able to conserve his hard tires accordingly, while Lawson (on medium tires) was stuck in the slipstream of the Aston Martin for another ten laps before he managed to overtake.
The fact that the two were only 1.4 seconds apart at the finish line was mainly due to Carlos Sainz braking Hadjar, and not because Lawson suddenly found enormous pace on the hard tires. Hadjar’s times at the start of Lawson’s stint were better before he was caught and overtaken by Lewis Hamilton.
Liam Lawson gets back on track at Racing Bulls
But things are looking up: Lawson is now much closer to Hadjar than he was at the start of his transfer, and Hadjar is increasingly feeling that he is being pushed harder from race to race. If Lawson manages to avoid time penalties in the race, he is on the verge of scoring points this year.
Lawson has the opportunity to prove himself for a long-term future in Formula 1, even if his performances so far have not yet clearly demonstrated this. However, a more stable first half of the season could help his cause enormously.
He may also need to be a little more honest with himself: Lawson claims that his confidence has not been dented by his “demotion” at Red Bull. That’s hard to believe, because a blow like that has to leave its mark. Lawson needs to overcome this and prove himself again.
The Racing Bulls VCARB 02 may not have the performance to challenge the top four teams, but the team is in a direct battle with Williams for fifth place in the constructors’ championship. And that’s exactly where Lawson should be looking: at ninth and tenth places, not at position battles with Aston Martin and Sauber.
Tsunoda sells himself better than Lawson
Tsunoda, on the other hand, is showing that he was the better choice for Red Bull at the start of the season. Whether he can exploit the full potential of the Red Bull RB21 in qualifying will be a real test: the car is good enough to secure pole positions and (occasional) Grand Prix victories when pushed to the limit – but Tsunoda still needs some time to reach that level. Patience will be a virtue here.
He currently seems to have reached a point where he can consistently achieve the lap times needed to get into Q3 in qualifying. But when he gets there, he should actually have a lot more up his sleeve. He hasn’t shown that yet.
This means that although Tsunoda has already learned a lot about the car, the learning process is not yet complete. However, unlike Lawson, Tsunoda has already managed to score two World Championship points in his first races for Red Bull, finishing ninth in Bahrain. Tsunoda is thus contributing to the team’s overall points tally, which is the minimum requirement at Red Bull.
It should not be forgotten at this point that Lawson had the winter tests to prepare for the season and his debut in the Red Bull RB21. Tsunoda did not have that: he switched from the VCARB 02 to the RB21 during the current racing season without any opportunity to test beforehand.