Windsor with striking idea: 'Then Verstappen would do better'

Red Bull Racing is struggling to find performance relative to its competitors, with many believing they are close to the front because the four-time world champion is at the wheel.

Liam Lawson's lack of form in the first two races of the races has led to his imminent replacement by Yuki Tsunoda at the Japanese Grand Prix, though this is yet to be confirmed. Former Williams team manager Windsor has suggested Verstappen would be faster in the Racing Bulls car than the RB21.

"That Racing Bulls car looks to be quite good. So it's a pretty sound bet that if Max Verstappen was in the Yuki Tsunoda car now, he'd probably be ahead of where he is in the A-Team.

"That's the bizarre thing about the whole Red Bull situation at the moment. That won't happen, I guess, for contractual reasons, branding, sponsorship, everything else, the points. That's probably a big drama with the constructors' and everything.

"But so the alternative would be to put Yuki alongside Max and go that way. And at least get Yuki's input then of how the two cars compare," Windsor then addresses the reported move that will see Lawson go back to Racing Bulls to make way for Tsunoda at Red Bull Racing.

"It's probably a bit of a shock for Yuki that he's in that car at Suzuka. It's actually not as good as the thing he's been driving so far."

Should Tsunoda fail as well, the Briton believes there are further alternatives Red Bull could pursue.

"But then again, I'd also be looking at guys like Theo Pourchaire and Fred Vesti and guys like that just to sort of see where they are contractually. Good guys that don't have options." 

This article was written in collaboration with Esteban den Toom.