{"id":32392,"date":"2025-04-04T06:23:25","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T10:23:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=32392"},"modified":"2025-04-04T11:41:26","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T15:41:26","slug":"franz-tost-gives-brutal-verdict-on-red-bull-driver-swap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/04\/04\/franz-tost-gives-brutal-verdict-on-red-bull-driver-swap\/","title":{"rendered":"Franz Tost gives brutal verdict on Red Bull driver swap"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/04\/04\/tsunoda-rb21-more-different-than-expected-to-the-simulator\/\" target=\"_self\">Yuki Tsunoda<\/a>\u00a0set a strong benchmark to go 6th fastest in FP1 for his Red Bull debut. Going just a tenth behind Verstappen on the same run plan is a promising start with his new team.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, Tsunoda&#8217;s calibre is not something new to the F1 paddock.<\/p>\n<p>For several years now, he has dispatched of various teammates put alongside him and been VCARB&#8217;s reference.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of the Faenza team, their former team principal has a very blunt assessment of the Tsunoda and Lawson swap.<\/p>\n<h2>Tsunoda support within the Red Bull camp<\/h2>\n<p>When <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/04\/03\/tsunoda-already-experimenting-with-rb21-set-up-ahead-of-japan\/\" target=\"_self\">Tsunoda&#8217;s F1 trajectory<\/a> is discussed, Honda&#8217;s presence at Red Bull is often mentioned as a key factor.<\/p>\n<p>The common narrative is that the Japanese manufacturer was integral in promoting Tsunoda into Formula 1.<\/p>\n<p>To some degree, they certainly played a big part in supporting him through junior categories.<\/p>\n<p>However, their role as Tsunoda&#8217;s sponsor was no different to what most eventual F1 drivers also benefit from.<\/p>\n<p>It was his fantastic results in Formula 2 (almost winning the title as a rookie) that put him into the pinnacle of motorsport.<\/p>\n<p>Several senior figures at Red Bull, including\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/04\/02\/helmut-marko-claims-newey-objected-to-promoting-tsunoda\/\" target=\"_self\">Helmut Marko<\/a>, have been clear about their belief in his potential.<\/p>\n<p>Various factors, including\u00a0Christian Horner&#8217;s scepticism, have delayed his promotion to the main team.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"SECi7JjORAVJdqqdqSxaQg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1814942762\" 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:'SECi7JjORAVJdqqdqSxaQg',sig:'tqer1ZD7QyTSYpHtTUg0VdeCI2VixIfgtqJwjT1YrdY=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1814942762',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h4>Tost: Tsunoda is &#8220;Much faster&#8221; than Lawson<\/h4>\n<p>One of the biggest supporters of Tsunoda throughout the years was Franz Tost &#8211; former team principal at AlphaTauri.<\/p>\n<p>According to the 69-year-old, the decision to\u00a0swap Tsunoda and Lawson\u00a0should have been straight-forward:<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;I would have done with Yuki Tsunoda from the start,&#8221;<\/em>\u00a0he told Austrian outlet ORF.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;I said that already, I made it clear last Autumn. Why?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Yuki is much faster than Lawson.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;You could give Lawson 100 years, and he still wouldn&#8217;t be as fast as Yuki &#8211; and Yuki is more experienced.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;So what&#8217;s the issue? It&#8217;s a very simple decision.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>These comments from the former F1 team principal provide some insights into the dynamics within Red Bull.<\/p>\n<p>Team principals at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/04\/02\/why-both-vcarb-drivers-are-under-growing-pressure\/\" target=\"_self\">VCARB\u00a0<\/a>(a role currently occupied by Laurent Mekies) are in a unique position within the paddock.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike other team bosses, they don&#8217;t have the final say in their driver line-up.<\/p>\n<p>Considering the Faenza-based operation serves as a second team to Red Bull, this is understandable.<\/p>\n<p>However, it does create some discrepancies about which drivers should be promoted.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"QPWnJoY0S3pM__87PC3ofA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1724676667\" 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:'QPWnJoY0S3pM__87PC3ofA',sig:'mqt2shB8-GRI7519gEeryxs_ekmoHmWtxZy4E6YLxEQ=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1724676667',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In a far more diplomatic manner, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/03\/17\/tsunoda-should-be-in-red-bull-instead-of-lawson-says-zak-brown\/\" target=\"_self\">Laurent Mekies<\/a> suggested in late 2024 that Tsunoda deserved the Red Bull seat.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the Frenchman&#8217;s position makes it difficult for him to speak on such matters.<\/p>\n<p>This is no longer a problem for Franz Tost, who has spoken very candidly on this issue:<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;It&#8217;s definitely a confirmation that the right call was made. Yuki has incredible natural speed &#8211; I&#8217;ve been saying that for years.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Now he just needs to put it together properly.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;He&#8217;s still too emotional in the car sometimes, and maybe that&#8217;s one of the reasons they didn&#8217;t pick him over Lawson in the first place.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;But in terms of raw pace, Yuki absolutely belongs with the best F1 drivers.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;And if he can translate that into consistency, perform in the races, and keep his emotions in check, then it&#8217;s going to be a very good season for Red Bull and Yuki Tsunoda.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yuki Tsunoda\u00a0set a strong benchmark to go 6th fastest in FP1 for his Red Bull debut. Going just a tenth behind Verstappen on the same run plan is a promising start with his new team. Of course, Tsunoda&#8217;s calibre is not something new to the F1 paddock. For several years now, he has dispatched of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":32387,"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":[2452,1755,1581],"class_list":["post-32392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-f1-2025-season","tag-liam-lawson","tag-yuki-tsunoda"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32392","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=32392"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32393,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32392\/revisions\/32393"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}