Tsunoda fires back on "brutal" overlook from Red Bull when asked about Lawson's demotion

Yuki Tsunoda has fired back about Red Bull's decision-making, saying it was "brutal" for him after he was overlooked at the end of 2024.

The talk of the paddock is still the demotion of Liam Lawson after just two Grands Prix, dropping back down to Racing Bulls after struggling at the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix.

Now, after originally being passed up at the end of the 2024 season, Tsunoda will make his Red Bull Racing debut at the Japanese Grand Prix, infront of his home fans at Suzuka.

Tsunoda asked if his trusts Red Bull

Speaking in Thursday's press conference at Suzuka, Tsunoda was asked how much faith he has in Red Bull's decision-making process after Lawson's demotion

"Well, for me, at least, it was brutal enough last year at the end of the season when they chose Liam over me," started the Japanese driver.

"It is what it is. I’m sure Liam also understands how quickly things can change within our structure. That’s one of the reasons we succeed, but also one of the reasons why we tend to get a little more attention with those situations."

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Tsunoda ready for his chance at Red Bull

The former Racing Bulls driver then went on to say that he does have "confidence" in joining Red Bull, hopeful that he can stay at the Austrian team longer than some others on the grid.

"I’m not saying I have the confidence that I can perform straight away like Max, but I have confidence that I can do something different – hopefully – compared to other drivers that will be in the car. If I didn’t have confidence, I wouldn’t be wearing this. I would have stayed in Racing Bulls.

"Racing Bulls already have such a good car, and I understand how they extract performance in every race so far, but because I wanted to have a new challenge, and I have good confidence to challenge myself, that’s why I’m wearing this and hitting the track with a different livery," concluded a bullish Tsunoda.

This article was written in collaboration with Kimberly Hoefnagel