What contribution did Racing Bulls make to Red Bull's driver swap? 'That was the case'

07:32, 04 Apr

byKada Sarkozi

Only after the first two rounds have been completed in the 2025 Formula One season, a driver change was announced at Red Bull Racing. This swap also includes Racing Bulls, as Liam Lawson returns to the Faenza-based team. Team principal Laurent Mekies reacted to the decision in Suzuka.

Yuki Tsunoda has joined Racing Bulls (at the time called AlphaTauri) in the 2021 season, but ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, he got the chance to make the step up to Red Bull Racing.

Mekies was clear about whether the driver deserved the call-up at Friday's press conference in Japan. "Yes, for sure he's ready. We had these questions here many, many times in the past. And we kept repeating that Yuki has made an incredible step last year compared to his previous seasons," the Frenchman began.

The team principal underlined that Tsunoda made another great step heading into the current year, after he received the news that the Austrians first chose Lawson to replace Sergio Perez, and to be Max Verstappen's next teammate.

"And we really felt that if he was going to make another step in 2025, we would be talking about very, very serious level. And that's exactly what he has done. So credit to him. He also had the bad news at the end of last season. He went to Japan, he came back, very, very strong spirit. As soon as he joined us back in Faenza, in Milton Keynes, in January, he worked extremely hard. The spirit was there. The attentions to all the details were there. When he jumped in the car in Bahrain, he showed pretty much straightaway to us that he had made another step."

How involved was Mekies in Red Bull's decision?

According to the team principal, his team have two clear targets: score as many points as possible, and also provide Red Bull with drivers who have the talent to be promoted.

"As a team, as Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, our first objective is competitiveness. Our second objective is to grow the young talents for the Red Bull family. So our job is to get to the end of the year or sooner in some cases, and to put on the table one or two drivers, which hopefully are of interest for our big brother. And to answer your questions, in the case of last season, we felt that was the case with both drivers."

However, he added that is where his responsibilities end, and he is not making decisions in terms of driver substitutions.

"That's what we presented to Christian, to Helmut and to the wider Red Bull family. Two drivers that are, according to us, able to step up into the bigger team. And then, of course, the rest of the decision is completely up to them," he concluded.