With the conclusion of the 2024 season, Red Bull announced that Sergio Perez will not be continuing with the team from the 2025 season onwards. Many expected this to be the chance for Yuki Tsunoda to finally get the promotion to the main team alongside Max Verstappen.
However, Red Bull decided to snub the Japanese racing driver once again and chose to promote Liam Lawson to the second seat instead. This decision has definitely divided the paddock and the fans alike. Former Haas F1 team boss Guenther Steiner is in the pack of experts who believe Tsunoda deserved the seat over Lawson.
Speaking to GPFans, Steiner said, “I would have given Yuki the chance of one year and say, Liam, take one year at Racing Bulls, you know, to grow, to get better, to get used to it. And if Yuki is not outstanding, we put him in for Yuki afterwards, you know.”
Having said that, Steiner is also aware of the fact that Lawson is a tantalizing prospect for the Milton-Keynes-based outfit. The American-Italian engineer acknowledged how good was the 22-year-old throughout 2023 and 2024 when he filled in for Daniel Ricciardo at RB.
On the other hand, Tsunoda has been left disappointed by this turn of events. Despite this, Red Bull have kept the #22 driver in the fold and have made him the reserve driver for the main team for 2025 alongside his driving role for the sister team RB next season.
Can a reserve role at Red Bull lead to a full-time seat for Tsunoda?
The team announced earlier on January 28 that Tsunoda will be the stand-in driver for the main Red Bull team this season. This means that if either Lawson or Verstappen are unavailable for any reason, Tsunoda will step into the race seat.
| Yuki Tsunoda will be Red Bull’s reserve driver for the 2025 season.
Alongside his full-time VCARB seat, Tsunoda will be Red Bull’s first option if either Verstappen or Lawson become unavailable.
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While at first glance a reserve driver role with them might seem like adding insult to injury, it could very well turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Steiner is quite aware that Lawson can falter in the first half of the season, as have almost all past teammates of the #1 driver in that second seat.
And if that is to be the case, Tsunoda now stands in a prime position to take over the role from Lawson. Thus, a few race weekends as a reserve driver could very well end up being his ticket to the coveted Red Bull seat he has been chasing for six years in F1.
However, If that does not materialize this season, it could also be Tsunoda’s last year with the Red Bull stable. Christian Horner has already confirmed that if his side are unable to offer the Japanese driver a promotion to Red Bull in 2025 itself, he sees no reason why they should keep the 24-year-old on their junior team, whose responsibility is to groom drivers for the senior side.
