Christian Horner Gives Yuki Tsunoda Judgement after Red Bull Qualifying Debut

In his first race weekend as a Red Bull Racing driver, Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda has managed to stay closer to his teammate Max Verstappen compared to his predecessor Liam Lawson.

Despite staying relatively close for much of the practice session, Tsunoda was eliminated in Q2. However, this result marked the first time the second Red Bull driver managed to get out of Q1.

Horner was among the higher-ups at Red Bull who decided to promote Tsunoda to the senior team and send Lawson back to Racing Bulls.

Many have labeled the decision as brutal since Lawson was dismissed after only two race weekends.

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Considering Lawson's lack of experience, the decision to promote him over Tsunoda in the offseason, in hindsight, seems like a miscalculation.

Despite all the paddock murmurings, Horner was seemingly impressed with what Yuki produced in his first qualifying with the senior team.

"And certainly in Q1, you know, he was looking competitive, he was within a tenth of Max, and just one place behind," Horner told reporters.

OUT IN Q2 👇

Not the session Yuki Tsunoda would have been hoping for 😢#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/L4DNfR2IzV
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 5, 2025

"Then in Q2, he hasn't actually improved, and that last run, I think he was a bit, possibly too quick into Turn 1, he had a big moment at Turn 2, and then you're never going to recover it from there."

"So it's a shame, because I think he would have comfortably made the top ten today, but you know, he can still race well from there tomorrow."

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The RB21 has been described as a challenging car to drive by the team, although Max Verstappen managed to extract the utmost from the car to secure pole position.

Horner views this achievement as good news for the team heading into the Grand Prix.

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"Well, who knows what tomorrow's going to bring, but you know, you've still got to have a car under you to be able to extract, you know, a lap like that," Horner said.

"Max has just been working so hard, you know, behind the scenes with the team, and look, that lap is down to him today, but you know, I think the team have done a good job in making progress throughout the weekend."

"You had a very quick one on Yuki, he was mistaken in turn one, right, and that was just it."

A fourth consecutive pole for Max in Suzuka 👏👏👏

Yuki did not advance to Q3 after a disrupted session.#F1 || #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/UHrdqpcdj0
— Oracle Red Bull Racing | オラクル・レッドブルレーシング (@redbullracing) April 5, 2025

"That was a shame, I mean, he's gone a bit hot in turn one, and that's then, you're on the back foot for the rest of the lap, but yeah, up to that point I think he's actually done very well, and you know, pleased to see Liam, you know, settling in well as well at the Racing Bulls."

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