Yuki Tsunoda has asserted that it would be a “weird” situation should Red Bull choose to promote reserve driver Liam Lawson to the parent Formula 1 team over him.

Red Bull appeared to have finalised its driver line-up heading into the coming seasons as it announced last month that Sergio Perez has penned a multi-term renewal.

  • Sentau
    3·
    5 months ago

    I’m not convinced Red Bull or anyone else thinks Yuki has a ceiling much higher than where he’s currently at.

    Which according to me is perfect for them. They want somebody solid, consistent and fast but not enough to threaten Verstappen. Yuki fits this bill. If they actually wanted somebody who would beat Verstappen in a straight fight occassionally they would have jumped at opportunity to bring in sainz. What they want is a driver what bottas was to merc and I believe yuki could be that

    Red Bull is unfortunately cursed with comparing everyone to Max so they are perpetually hunting for someone as good or better than he is

    There is nobody fitting this bill in the RB stables (or outside for that matter). Neither did perez fit this bill so then hiring him seems an odd decision. Lawson and hadjar dont fit these requirements either and since they are rookies throwing them into Verstappen infested waters seems more like a plan to destroy their career than advance it.

    • FrostyTrichs@walledgarden.xyzEnglish
      2·
      5 months ago

      They want somebody solid, consistent and fast but not enough to threaten Verstappen.

      People say this all the time completely ignoring the fact that Red Bull was courting Lando when they thought they had a chance to sign him alongside Max.

      Any team that is consciously and actively dumbing down their lineup is making a mistake, imo.

      • Sentau
        3·
        5 months ago

        People say this all the time completely ignoring the fact that Red Bull was courting Lando when they thought they had a chance to sign him alongside Max.

        Yeah I am aware of this. I think the reason Lando is exempt from this ‘should not fight Verstappen requirement’ because of 3 factors :-

        • He and Max are buddies so I think red Bull thinks that they will be able to manage both them without there being much toxicity(though the same was true for Lewis and Nico and look how that turned out when they started fighting for titles)
        • Lando is bloody quick, very close to the level that Verstappen, Lewis and Fernando(at least before this season) operate at so the upside provided by his speed is greater than the downside of potential toxicity and intra team sabotage
        • Lando is younger than Verstappen and unlike max has never expressed any desire to move to other racing competitions so I think they see having Lando in the team as insurance for the long term incase max actually leaves.

        The above points are why I believe that Lando gets a pass so to say. If they actually wanted to put the best available driver in perez’s seat, they would be putting sainz in there but they don’t want that as sainz doesn’t bring the benefits that Lando brings. They either want a driver who is the best fit for the team or someone who is quick enough that they are willing to work around the negatives of such a line-up.

        Edit : just want to say how good I feel to have discussions like these here on lemmy. The community here is pretty small as compared to reddit so I was missing these long but respectful discussions like these. Cheers @FrostyTrichs@walledgarden.xyz

        • FrostyTrichs@walledgarden.xyzEnglish
          2·
          5 months ago

          The above points are why I believe that Lando gets a pass so to say.

          I would argue he’s the only one who’s been a legitimate talent comparison to Max that Red Bull had even a sniff of a chance to sign. George is a great talent but his fate has been in Mercedes hands for years, who were quick to shove him next to Lewis knowing full well there would be conflicts when neither wanted to be number two.

          The talent coming up from the feeder series has been locked down too besides Oscar (lol) but by and large has been lukewarm as well until recently.

          I see/understand your points, but I’m not convinced that’s what is actually happening. There’s so many variables though who’s to say what the truth is until everyone retires and tells the stories.