{"id":28487,"date":"2024-12-13T04:27:18","date_gmt":"2024-12-13T09:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=28487"},"modified":"2024-12-13T07:30:34","modified_gmt":"2024-12-13T12:30:34","slug":"yuki-tsunoda-red-bull-divided-over-the-24-year-olds-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/12\/13\/yuki-tsunoda-red-bull-divided-over-the-24-year-olds-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Yuki Tsunoda: Red Bull divided over the 24-year-old&#8217;s future"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For almost two decades, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/07\/20\/horner-out-of-patience-with-perez-we-cant-run-on-one-leg\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Christian Horner<\/a> and Helmut Marko have been Red Bull&#8217;s decision-makers. Heading into 2025, a disagreement between these men over Yuki Tsunoda could be pivotal in Red Bull&#8217;s 2025 line-up.<\/p>\n<h2>Yuki Tsunoda has vote of confidence from Marko &#8211; but Horner is more sceptical<\/h2>\n<p>There have been various twists and turns in this year&#8217;s driver market. One of the main sources of uncertainty has come from Red Bull.<\/p>\n<p>Even with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/12\/08\/why-replacing-sergio-perez-will-be-a-headache-for-red-bull\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Sergio Perez<\/a> signing a contract extension in June, his future at Milton Keynes has been in constant doubt.<\/p>\n<p>The 34-year-old&#8217;s performances this year have not been up to scratch &#8211; especially since the summer break.<\/p>\n<p>After scoring just 21 points in the second half of the year, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/12\/09\/red-bull-reveal-what-could-be-their-kryptonite-in-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Red Bull<\/a> are working to replace Perez for 2025. The question is who will replace him.<\/p>\n<p>Barring any surprises, Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson are the leading candidates.<\/p>\n<p>However, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko have some disagreements &#8211; specifically over Yuki Tsunoda&#8217;s potential.<\/p>\n<p>With Red Bull&#8217;s 2025 line-up on the verge of being announced, this issue could be central.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"wb39pTiLT4ppL_9-oiYsgg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2071039273\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'wb39pTiLT4ppL_9-oiYsgg',sig:'Z9eURg64LTvV0AbwXMjObJRTAGzRe1EwFPGnawkwYGc=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2071039273',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/12\/11\/f1-news-honda-back-tsunoda-in-red-bull-driver-talks\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Honda back Tsunoda in Red Bull driver talks<\/a><\/p>\n<h4>Helmut Marko a long-time supporter of Tsunoda<\/h4>\n<p>Over the last few seasons, there can be no denying that Tsunoda has made consistent progress.<\/p>\n<p>Even before dispatching of Nyck de Vries in 2023, the Japanese driver was already matching Pierre Gasly in the second half of 2022.<\/p>\n<p>This fact, often overlooked, means that Tsunoda&#8217;s performances in the last two years are not necessarily a surprise.<\/p>\n<p>Quite often, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/04\/14\/helmut-marko-gives-verdict-on-tsunoda-red-bull-chances\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Helmut Marko has been the first to praise the 24-year-old&#8217;s progress<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Having played a key role in signing Tsunoda to the Red Bull academy, Marko was vocal about Tsunoda&#8217;s speed at the beginning of 2024.<\/p>\n<p>At a time when Lawson was on the sidelines, the 81-year-old spoke highly of Tsunoda&#8217;s results.<\/p>\n<p>However, Marko is not the only person who decides Red Bull&#8217;s driver pairings.<\/p>\n<h4>Christian Horner more confident in Liam Lawson<\/h4>\n<p>It would be a stretch to suggest that Christian Horner is entirely dismissive of Yuki Tsunoda.<\/p>\n<p>The Red Bull team principal has described Tsunoda as a quick driver on numerous occasions.<\/p>\n<p>However, Horner still has reservations about putting the Japanese driver in the main team.<\/p>\n<p>Most of his statements throughout 2024, either explicitly or implicitly, show a reluctance to promote Tsunoda.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Liam Lawson is Horner&#8217;s preferred option to drive alongside Max Verstappen.<\/p>\n<p>Lawson&#8217;s relatively late re-introduction to VCARB, though somewhat abrupt, was always an audition for the Red Bull seat.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"JjdBZxzBQt1CzWbNoKrhbw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2188901644\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'JjdBZxzBQt1CzWbNoKrhbw',sig:'Ob4c_0L4a3eJlbVywU9Dne1QKtuhGvHba83vqTuG2Bc=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2188901644',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>READ:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/12\/10\/why-yuki-tsunoda-is-at-a-dead-end-with-red-bull\/\" target=\"_self\">Why Tsunoda is at a dead end with Red Bull<\/a><\/p>\n<h4>How Lawson and Tsunoda were assessed<\/h4>\n<p>Because of his relative inexperience, the Kiwi was not expected to be faster than Tsunoda<\/p>\n<p>Red Bull&#8217;s target for the 22-year-old was to stay within touching distance of his teammate.<\/p>\n<p>Generally speaking, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/10\/23\/liam-lawson-reveals-red-bull-targets-that-was-the-expectation\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Liam Lawson achieved this goal<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Christian Horner&#8217;s comments after the Qatar GP seemed to showcase his mindset when evaluating the VCARB duo.<\/p>\n<p>The Red Bull team principal made no mention of Lawson&#8217;s clash with Bottas &#8211; the kind of mistake Tsunoda was criticised for in the mast.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, Horner described Lawson and Tsunoda as being evenly matched on race day.<\/p>\n<p>Whilst this is not a direct criticism towards Yuki Tsunoda, if Christian Horner perceives Lawson as being at a similar level &#8211; it seems likely the Kiwi is his preferred choice for 2025.<\/p>\n<p>The consensus, as it has been for several months, is that <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/10\/21\/liam-lawson-on-track-for-red-bull-promotion\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Liam Lawson is the favourite to join Red Bull<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Where the decision solely in Helmut Marko&#8217;s hands, then Tsunoda may very well have the edge.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, it would not be beyond Helmut Marko to promote Yuki Tsunoda mid-season, especially during the height of Perez&#8217;s struggles.<\/p>\n<p>However, both Horner and Marko must come to an agreement. When taking this into consideration, Lawson seems to be the option both parties can agree on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For almost two decades, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko have been Red Bull&#8217;s decision-makers. Heading into 2025, a disagreement between these men over Yuki Tsunoda could be pivotal in Red Bull&#8217;s 2025 line-up. Yuki Tsunoda has vote of confidence from Marko &#8211; but Horner is more sceptical There have been various twists and turns in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":28289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2220,681,465,610,78,2394,2246],"class_list":["post-28487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-2024-formula-1-season","tag-christian-horner","tag-f1-news","tag-helmut-marko","tag-red-bull-racing","tag-tsunoda","tag-vcarb"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28487"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28515,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28487\/revisions\/28515"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}