The clock is ticking, with management setting an end-October deadline \u2014 coinciding with the Mexico City Grand Prix \u2014 to decide who will partner Max Verstappen next season.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a call that will have repercussions for two of the other three drivers in its four-car line-up.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
The continuity of Liam Lawson in Formula 1 is attached directly to Tsunoda\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s because Red Bull could have junior driver Arvid Lindblad in the mix. Highly rated by the brand, Lindblad is in his first Formula 2 season but is a strong chance to earn promotion to F1 in 2026.<\/p>\n
If Tsunoda stays at Red Bull Racing, Lawson\u2019s seat will be earmarked for Lindblad.<\/p>\n
If Tsunoda is axed, Isack Hadjar is next in line for the Red Bull Racing meat grinder. Lindblad will take Hadjar\u2019s seat, leaving space for one of either Lawson or Tsunoda. THE other will be ejected into a driver market that\u2019s almost all sewn up.<\/p>\n
Four into three simply doesn\u2019t go, and the next few rounds could shape up as a shootout for the final seat in the Red Bull roster.<\/p>\n
With the deadline drawing nearer, both drivers are out to make a statement.<\/p>\n
PIT TALK PODCAST: After his disaster in Azerbaijan, can Oscar Piastri bounce back in Singapore to reassert himself as the championship leader?<\/p>\n
A-GAME IN AZERBAIJAN<\/p>\n
Both Tsunoda and Lawson are rising to the challenge, with both performing strongly in Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n
Tsunoda, who at long last was equipped with the same full set of upgrades as Verstappen, qualified sixth, his best Saturday result since joining the team.<\/p>\n
He finished in the same position, which is likewise his best result in Red Bull Racing colours.<\/p>\n
The upgrade will undoubtedly have played a part, but Tsunoda also credited some simulator work he did during the mid-season break as helping to boost his performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething I changed on the car seems to be working really well,\u201d he said, per The Race. \u201cObviously there is some finetuning with my driving as well that I\u2019ve worked quite hard to improve.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to find the reason why I was so much behind [before], and I tried multiple sim sessions. Then I found something, and when I applied it to this track it seems to be working very well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tsunoda refused to say what it was, but he was clearly upbeat about its prospects to revitalise his season.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s working very hard. He has never backed off,\u201d Red Bull Racing boss Laurent Mekies said, per Autosport. \u201cHe came straight to the simulator instead of going on holiday [at the mid-season break], he said: \u2018No, no, I\u2019ll go back to the simulator with the team and work the next day\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s the approach he has. Every weekend when he\u2019s not racing, he\u2019s working somewhere with his engineers or on his driving, and I\u2019m very happy for him that he shows progress.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s his best race with us this year. The one thing that was probably the most important for us is to get that clean sample, as we said last time. I think he was listening and it\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n
By \u201cclean sample\u201d Mekies was referring to a clean run through the weekend with equal machinery and without getting stuck in traffic and out of position during the race. Azerbaijan was Tsunoda\u2019s first such weekend in several rounds, and he nailed his chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpeed doesn\u2019t disappear,\u201d Mekies continues. \u201cDrivers make progress.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s such a confidence business, and you see the confidence of Yuki was certainly high up, and he did very, very, strongly.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was the weekend Tsunoda needed.<\/p>\n
Except for one thing.<\/p>\n
The driver he finished behind was Lawson.<\/p>\n
“Certainly not my finest moment…” | 02:44<\/p>\n
LAWSON IS BACK TO HIS BEST<\/p>\n
If Tsunoda had a good weekend, Lawson had a great one, qualifying a tremendous third for Racing Bulls and finishing a commendable fifth. The deciding moment of his top-five pursuit was a pass on Tsunoda late in the race, admittedly when the Red Bull Racing car was battling with cold tyres fresh from a pit stop.<\/p>\n
It was the best qualifying and race result of the New Zealander\u2019s Formula 1 career.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously it is a little bit disappointing from where we are starting, and realistically we didn\u2019t have the speed to fight with the guys in front today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you\u2019re always hopeful, and we tried everything today, but there just wasn\u2019t quite enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut still, to have a P5 is big for us, especially in the [constructors] championship right now. Massive thanks to the team. We have had a good car all weekend, and I\u2019m happy to come home with some points.\u201d<\/p>\n
While fifth was the second-best result of the season for Racing Bulls \u2014 after Hadjar\u2019s podium in the Netherlands \u2014 this was no one-off result for Lawson.<\/p>\n
A look at his season results show a clear upwards trajectory that makes this strong return largely unsurprising.<\/p>\n
It took him time to recover from his confidence-sapping demotion from Red Bull Racing after two rounds and to adjust to his new car, but since May he\u2019s been a good match for the highly rated Hadjar.<\/p>\n
And despite Hadjar finishing on the podium in the Netherlands, there\u2019s been practically nothing to separate them over the last five rounds.<\/p>\n
They have both appeared in Q3 four times from the last five, and in that time each has scored three times for a total of 18 points apiece to move the team into sixth in the standings 10 points clear of Aston Martin and 29 points behind Williams.<\/p>\n
Lawson is only nine points behind Hadjar in the title standings, 30-39.<\/p>\n
His qualifying pace is also clearly improving. Over the last five rounds he\u2019s been on average 0.121 seconds slower than Hadjar, whereas in the races before then he was on average 0.322 seconds adrift.<\/p>\n
In recent months we\u2019ve finally seen Lawson return to the sort of form that got him into Daniel Ricciardo\u2019s seat late last year and earnt him his shock and short-lived Red Bull Racing promotion for 2025.<\/p>\n
Given this season is his first on the grid full-time \u2014 notwithstanding he didn\u2019t have a smooth pre-season, and it was anyway with the wrong team \u2014 it amounts to a strong argument on his behalf for retention.<\/p>\n
Vamos! Sainz ECSTATIC with podium result | 01:03<\/p>\n
\u2018WE HAVE TIME \u2026\u2019<\/p>\n
Every race this month \u2014 and perhaps for longer \u2014 weighs heavily on the careers of both Tsunoda and Lawson.<\/p>\n
This weekend\u2019s Singapore Grand Prix will be an interesting chance for both.<\/p>\n
Tsunoda has a reasonable qualifying history here \u2014 he\u2019s lined up 10th, 15th and eighth \u2014 but a dreadful finishing record.<\/p>\n
Last year\u2019s 12th-place finish was the first time he saw the chequered flag in Marina Bay; he retired from his previous two entries with collision damage.<\/p>\n
But the Japanese star remains buoyed by what he felt in the car in Baku.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels like I\u2019m moving in a positive direction with the car and the hard work we have all been putting in is paying off across the race weekend,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBaku is obviously quite a unique circuit and Singapore will be very different for us and could pose some challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of the biggest tests we have as drivers. But that\u2019s what makes it fun, and I enjoy preparing for it and racing there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawson has entered this race only once \u2014 in 2023, his second grand prix substituting for the injured Ricciardo. He qualified 10th and scored points for ninth. It was his equal best career finish until this year\u2019s Monaco Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
Returning to this track for the first time since then, he feels he has momentum behind him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt always brings back great memories,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s such a beautiful place but also very humid and hot, so I expect it to be tough. However, I\u2019m very excited to return this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Picking a favourite this weekend is as difficult as picking which driver should move ahead of the queue to race next season.<\/p>\n
And while the preferred trajectory appears to have been for Lindblad to displace one of these under-pressure drivers, that doesn\u2019t necessarily have to be what happens.<\/p>\n
If both Tsunoda and Lawson continue improving, we could see them partner each other at Racing Bulls while Lindblad remains in Formula 2. The British junior has been decent without having set the world on fire in his maiden F2 campaign this year, where he\u2019s a distant seventh in the championship with two rounds remaining.<\/p>\n
Given the Red Bull program is facing this driver dilemma in part because it\u2019s had a habit of promoting drivers too quickly or with not enough support, making the same mistake with Lindblad could end up burning another promising young talent.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have time,\u201d Mekies said. \u201cWhy would we rush?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will not wait until Abu Dhabi, but we have a few more races for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s still all to play for, but the clock is ticking for Tsunoda and Lawson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s crunch month for Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese star got his big break at Red Bull Racing earlier…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184140,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[944,2095,14212,1724,64,63,961,52629,2791,22777,117779,18264,117780,117792,117785,14210,117793,2057,817,117791,813,816,2105,117789,59966,33115,106467,2082,825,117781,2184,23956,13756,117790,16255,2041,117783,36245,2119,106478,117784,117786,21786,117787,117782,34900,942,2812,85,74823,106464,43342,117788,12000,2062,5077],"class_list":["post-184139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-abu-dhabi","tag-america","tag-arvid-lindblad","tag-asia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-azerbaijan","tag-bounce-back","tag-central-america","tag-championship-leader","tag-clean-sample","tag-collision-damage","tag-confidence-business","tag-driver-development","tag-driver-dilemma","tag-driver-market","tag-end-october-deadline","tag-europe","tag-f1","tag-final-seat","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-grand-prix-substituting","tag-japanese-star","tag-junior-driver","tag-lap-one-blunders","tag-mark-thompson","tag-max-verstappen","tag-meat-grinder","tag-mexico","tag-mexico-city","tag-mid-season-break","tag-multiple-sim-sessions","tag-netherlands","tag-north-america","tag-one-off-result","tag-pit-stop","tag-pit-talk","tag-podium-resultformula","tag-positive-direction","tag-promising-young-talent","tag-race-weekend","tag-reasonable-qualifying-history","tag-season-results","tag-simulator-work","tag-singapore","tag-south-eastern-asia","tag-sports","tag-the-race","tag-title-gap","tag-title-standings","tag-under-pressure-drivers","tag-western-asia","tag-western-europe","tag-yuki-tsunoda"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}