Former Team Principal Sounds Off on Lawson-Tsunoda Drama as Red Bull Scrutiny Continues

Red Bull controversially demoted Liam Lawson to its junior team, Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, while promoting Yuki Tsunoda to the senior team. This move has faced significant scrutiny due to the drastic nature of the decision.

No one has been more brash and unfiltered than former AlphaTauri and Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost, who question why Lawson was promoted over Yuki in the first place.

"I would have gone with Yuki Tsunoda from the start. I said that already – I made it clear last autumn," Tost told Austrian ORF broadcast.

"Why? Yuki is much faster than Lawson."

"You could give Lawson 100 years, and he still wouldn’t be as fast as Yuki. And Yuki is more experienced, so what’s the issue? It’s a very simple decision," he explained.

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Tost was the team principal at what is now known as VCARB while Tsunoda broke into F1 during his early seasons. Despite retiring in 2023, he still carries three seasons working with Yuki and has seen him grown.

Us thinking about seeing cars on track again when we wake up 😁#F1 #VCARB #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/KbVdwk38pa
— Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team (@visacashapprb) April 4, 2025

"It’s definitely a confirmation that the right call was made. Yuki has incredible natural speed – I’ve been saying that for years," Tost added.

"Now, he just needs to put it all together properly. He’s still too emotional in the car at times, and maybe that was one of the reasons they didn’t pick him over Lawson in the first place."

"But in terms of raw pace, Yuki absolutely belongs among the best Formula 1 drivers."

"And if he can now translate that into consistency, perform in the races, and keep his emotions more or less in check, then it’s going to be a very, very good season forRed Bull Racing and for Yuki Tsunoda."

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The decision to remove Lawson was viewed as harsh by many, as providing a driver with less than a full season of experience only a mere two race weekends to adapt to a challenging Red Bull seems unreasonable.

There is also the argument that Lawson did not have experience on the first two tracks, yet he has driven in Japan previously for Super Formula and should know the track well.

First media day together ✅#F1 #VCARB #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/1TfXZox06N
— Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team (@visacashapprb) April 3, 2025

If the goal was to give Lawson a fair shake, another race would be the best option, but Tost disagrees with the notion Liam could turn it around.

"Knowing the track is one thing. Being fast is another. The decision to put Yuki in the car now was absolutely right, because Liam is simply too slow," Tost said.

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