“Give Him 1 Year”: Guenther Steiner Was Rooting for Yuki Tsunoda Before Liam Lawson Got Red Bull Seat

Red Bull’s decision to replace Sergio Perez with Liam Lawson has not gone down well with several fans. Many of them pointed out how Yuki Tsunoda has grown leaps and bounds since he started in F1 four seasons ago and it has been too long that he has been ignored.

Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner seems to have a similar opinion about the Japanese driver. As a matter of fact, before Red Bull announced Lawson, the Italian-American was rooting for Tsunoda to get the nod.

“He’s good, Yuki, and hope he gets in the Red Bull,” Steiner said on the Red Flags podcast. “Give him one year in a Red Bull — make it or break it”. The topic of Tsunoda came up after the hosts of the podcast revealed to Steiner that their fans believe that the 24-year-old improved the most over the past year.

Tsunoda’s performances over the past season prove the fans’ viewpoint as he not only beat eight-time Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo in the same car but also Lawson.

In 2024, he scored points more often than Ricciardo whenever RB had a good enough car. Moreover, the #22 driver outqualified Lawson in all the six races they raced as teammates.

Now, with Tsunoda being ignored once again, he would be desperate to prove to the Red Bull top brass that they made the wrong decision.

Tsunoda can still drive for Red Bull in 2025

Red Bull are infamous for switching their drivers mid-season. The likes of Daniil Kvyat, Pierre Gasly and Nyck de Vries have all experienced it when they have failed to meet expectations.

Now, with Lawson not even having completed a full F1 season, there is a chance that he may fail to meet expectations. That could open a door for Tsunoda, who is contracted to race for Red Bull’s sister team RB next year.

Since Red Bull are notorious for making such mid-season swaps, this question was also posed to Steiner on the podcast. The Italian-American also agreed that it was possible Red Bull will bring in Tsunoda if Lawson underperforms.

However, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is confident his side made the right decision. He explained in an interview with ESPN that they decided to give Lawson the nod over Tsunoda because the New Zealander has a higher performance ceiling.

“With Liam, when you look and go into the analytics of his race, pace was slightly better in the races that he did,” the Briton explained. “His qualifying pace was very tight with Yuki, and you’ve got to assume that the potential with Liam having only done 11 grands prix, is he’s only going to get better and stronger”.