Tsunoda calls possibility of Lawson being handed Red Bull drive ‘weird’ as he says he deserves seat alongside Verstappen

RB driver Yuki Tsunoda says he feels ready to be partnered at Red Bull with Max Verstappen should he be called upon – while adding his take on rumours that Liam Lawson could potentially be handed a Red Bull drive ahead of him.

On paper, Red Bull are one of the teams with both drivers locked down for 2025, with Max Verstappen having signed a long-term contract in 2022 taking him up to 2028, while Sergio Perez was recently handed a two-year contract extension.

READ MORE: ‘I’m very happy where I’m at’ – Verstappen reiterates focus on future with Red Bull as he assesses challenge posed by McLaren

However, with rumours persisting about Verstappen considering his options for the future, and with Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner having termed Perez’s recent poor run of form – culminating in a P17 finish last time out at Silverstone – “unsustainable”, rumours have swirled about the possibility of a seat becoming available at Red Bull.

Fuel was then added to those rumours as Liam Lawson – who impressively stood in for an injured Daniel Ricciardo at RB/AlphaTauri last year for five Grands Prix – completed a test for Red Bull at Silverstone.

Asked on Thursday in Hungary whether he would find it odd if Lawson was handed a Red Bull drive in the future ahead of him, Tsunoda – currently enjoying arguably his strongest season in F1 – replied: “If they choose Liam, that would be weird.

“But for me at least, I don't think [it will happen]. For sure Liam did a really good job when he drove in the team, but I think I did more than that. We'll see how it goes. In the end, they [Red Bull] know how to manage drivers.”

READ MORE: Horner admits Perez not scoring points is ‘unsustainable’ after ‘frustrating’ weekend at Silverstone

Pushed on whether he felt he deserved a seat alongside Verstappen, Tsunoda replied simply: “Yeah.”

He added: “I'm feeling ready compared to obviously the last three years to fight against the top few teams in higher positions, even with Max or whatever. But in the end, they [Red Bull] are the ones who are going to decide and it's not one of those things I can control. So I'm just focusing on what I have to do in the next few races.”

Tsunoda added that his conversations with Horner and Red Bull motorsport advisor Dr Helmut Marko about his future prospects had been limited in recent races – while adding that he understood why Perez had been offered his contract extension by Red Bull.

READ MORE: Horner admits Perez not scoring points is ‘unsustainable’ after ‘frustrating’ weekend at Silverstone

“Not like clear ones,” he said of his conversations with Horner and Marko. “It's just a casual chat in the hospitality and it just happens like that. But also they're not really rushing it. Checo [Perez], also, they announced it two races before, or a race before.

“Checo might perform really, really well, and if the driver's performing well, they don't have a reason to change the drivers. In the end, what they're doing is, I think, a good thing for Checo, because they don't want to create any pressure, and that's definitely fair – and also for myself, they want me to drive and focus on what I'm doing right now. So we haven't had, like, serious conversations yet.”

Lawrence Barretto, F1 Correspondent & Presenter, says...

The driver market was once again the talk of the town as the F1 fraternity reconvened in Budapest – with Sergio Perez’s future at Red Bull high on the list of talking points.

The Mexican has endured a challenging six races and lies 137 points and five positions behind team mate and championship leader Max Verstappen. After 12 races, he has the biggest qualifying deficit to his team mate at 0.609s.

In boss Christian Horner’s own words, that kind of form is “unsustainable”, and that has led to speculation Perez’s future is under threat, to the point that he could potentially get dropped mid-season despite having recently signed a new deal to extend his stay into 2025.

LIVE COVERAGE: Follow all the build-up ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend

Perez gave such chat short shrift and it should be said that Red Bull’s current position is that keeping Perez is Plan A and they want to find a way to unlock his speed.

However, it is understandable that they are doing their due diligence should his form not improve in the next couple of races.

Is their reserve Liam Lawson the favourite to replace Perez if required? My sources say that isn’t the case and rather it’s all to play for between Lawson, Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda.

I understand Lawson’s test at Silverstone was good but didn’t set the world alight in the way that Ricciardo did when he had a test – albeit of a different kind with more running – last year.

However, Red Bull still rate him and want to keep him in the family. Equally, they want to give Ricciardo a chance to prove it was worth taking a chance on him. And Tsunoda is very much in the mix given his superb run of form this season.

For now, Red Bull are focused on finding a way for Perez to get back to his best before the summer break. If he doesn’t, then they will utilise the planning they’ve done in assessing Lawson, Ricciardo and Tsunoda and react accordingly.