If you’re given a dog, you have a dog, and it will always be a dog. If you’re given a Racing Bull, well, that can mean something else. We finally have clarity and confirmation that Yuki Tsunoda will replace Kiwi driver Liam Lawson as the No. 2 driver for Max Verstappen at Oracle Red Bull Racing. For the upcoming 2025 Japanese F1 Grand Prix, Lawson will take over Tsunoda’s seat at Visa Cash App Racing Bulls.
All the best to Yuki Tsunoda. Let’s see if you can make the dog dance. Congratulations Liam, you may have dodged a bullet.
The Tyrrell 005 was a Formula One racing car that was designed for the Tyrrell team by their Chief Designer, Derek Gardner. It was a chassis specifically intended for World F1 Champion Sir Jackie Stewart with a particularly short wheelbase to suit his style of driving.
Only one chassis was built and was first used by Stewart in the 1972 Austrian Grand Prix where he finished seventh. Raced from 1972 to 1974, it only competed in 11 Grand Prix. Stewart drove in six of these winning two and finishing on the podium two other times while Francios Cevert, Chris Amon and Patrick Depailler struggled to finish in the points in the other five Grand Prix.
It was not too dissimilar to today’s Oracle Red Bull Racing’s chassis RB21 which reportedly has been designed to suit Verstappen’s driving style. It appears that his No. 2 driver was taken into consideration and even Verstappen himself is way off the pace in the first two races in the 2025 season.
On paper Lawson hasn’t performed in any of the sessions over the Australian and Chinese Grand Prix and has had to shoulder the blame. Sieve through the deluge of opinion and it emerges that the problem may well be the chassis, rather than the driver. One could describe it as a dog!
We will probably have our thoughts confirmed after FP1 at the Japanese Grand Prix next weekend when we see how Tsunoda performs. It is a brave decision to take over Lawson’s seat. Tsunoda doesn’t offer anything new to the equation and the odds are that he will fare no better.
Keeping Lawson in the Red Bull seat would not just give him time to get to grips with the car, it would keep the media spotlight on him and not what is really at fault.
If Tsunoda fails, then the spotlight will immediately turn to the chassis, Team Principal Chris Horner and their design team. Decisions by the team are coming back to haunt them and the dog’s breakfast may well capitulate. More learned colleagues of mine say they have never before seen such a situation.
For Lawson the decision is a reprieve and may prove a career-saving one at that. The 2025 Racing Bull chassis has proved very competitive and here is a chance to show the paddock how good he really is.
For the rest of us, it has been a gut-sinking arduous two weeks where all our expectations and excitement have been ambushed and sunk. It is important for Lawson (and us) to stay on the path and keep the faith. The path that life takes is not always straight forward.
And as they say, ‘If it barks like a dog….’
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