Guenther Steiner, the former Haas F1 team boss, recently shared his thoughts on Yuki Tsunoda’s recent move to the Red Bull team and what he anticipates from the young driver.
Last Thursday, Red Bull announced that Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson would be switching places just before the Japanese Grand Prix, which happens to be Tsunoda’s home turf. The decision wasn’t due to Lawson’s struggles at the start of the season. Instead, Red Bull needs Tsunoda’s know-how to help solve issues plaguing their RB21 car.
In the first two races of the 2025 F1 season, Red Bull’s car didn’t perform as expected, leading even Max Verstappen to voice concerns about its pace. Lawson has had a tough time due to these handling problems and his relative lack of experience, which saw him fail to make it out of the initial qualifying stages in both the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix.
Tsunoda, on the flip side, has made a solid impression early in the season, though his results might not entirely reflect his performance. At 24, he’s shown remarkable speed and racing skill, notwithstanding a strange front wing failure in the Chinese Grand Prix.
During a chat on the Red Flags podcast, Steiner was asked how he sees Tsunoda doing at Red Bull. Steiner commented, “I believe Tsunoda will make it to Q3. Right now, Yuki’s performing well. He’s been on quite a journey, starting out a bit chaotic, but he’s really sorted himself out.”
Steiner continued, “He’s fast and reliable. Sure, there was an issue in the last race, and the strategies in Australia and China weren’t spot on. And in China, the front wing snapped—nothing he could do on that one.”
