Tsunoda volunteers to replace Lawson at Red Bull: 'Why not?'

After several disappointing results from Lawson, speculation is already rife in Formula 1 about the New Zealander's future at Red Bull. Although nothing is fixed yet, there are already rumours pointing to a potential driver switch.

Though it is only the second race weekend of the season, time is already starting to tick away for Lawson, as his form has seen him earn not a single point for the Austrian formation, leaving Max Verstappen to do what he has done in recent years: fight the rest of the top teams single-handedly.

Red Bull's sister team, Racing Bulls, is doing surprisingly well, on the other hand. Whereas Lawson will start the Chinese Grand Prix dead last, Tsunoda managed to put his VCARB02 in P9, with rookie teammate Isack Hadjar qualifying event further up in P7, beating Mercedes' Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the process.

Lawson's seat already under scrutiny

Lawson's seat at Red Bull may already be under scrutiny by Red Bull's leadership, with the Japanese Grand Prix said to be 'critical' in terms of deciding the direction the team will take, with Tsunoda being up for the challenge of becoming Verstappen's new teammate. When asked by The Race if he would be ready for a potential promotion, the Japanese driver was clear: "Of course, why not?"

Red Bull's chief advisor, Helmut Marko, already hinted at the situation within Red Bull and Lawson's performance to the German branch of Sky. "Formula 1 is a performance sport and that is ultimately what counts," said the Austrian, who is also ultimately in charge of seat allocation for Red Bull.

This article was written in collaboration with Marnik Kok.