Yuki Tsunoda feels “100%” ready to replace under-pressure Liam Lawson at Red Bull, and would be happy to do so from the next round in Japan if necessary.
Last year, Lawson and Tsunoda were teammates at Red Bull’s junior team, Racing Bulls, but its management chose Lawson over the Japanese driver when it decided to cut Sergio Pérez over the winter.
In his first three qualifying attempts with Red Bull, Lawson has failed to make it out of Q1 and was slowest of all in Saturday’s qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix.
In contrast, Lawson’s teammate Max Verstappen has not qualified outside the top four so far this year, while Tsunoda qualified fifth at the opening round in Australia, eighth for the sprint race in China and ninth for Sunday’s full-length grand prix.
Asked if he would be happy to take on the challenge of driving the Red Bull, Tsunoda said: “Yeah, why not. Always.”
When a follow up question suggested a switch in Japan, he added: “In Japan? Yeah, 100%. I mean, the car is faster.”
After answering the question, Tsunoda was whisked away by a Racing Bulls PR person.
The chances of Tsunoda replacing Lawson as soon as the next round seem slim. But when the possibility of a swap later in the season was put to Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko, he did not rule it out.
“Formula 1 is a competitive sport and ultimately that’s what counts,” Marko told Sky Germany.
Speaking about Lawson’s performance, Marko added: “This is not what we expected, but we will discuss it calmly.”
Lawson’s qualifying lap in China was slightly hampered by Pierre Gasly overtaking him just before the final corner of his outlap, but the New Zealander said he did not want to make excuses for the results.
“It’s really tough, honestly,” Lawson said. “The window’s really small, that’s known, but honestly it’s not an excuse. I’ve got to get a handle of it.
“It was a messy session and had we not dealt with traffic we might have been OK, but to be honest it’s still not good enough. I just need to get a top of it.”
Asked what the issues are, Lawson added: “I think it’s just time. Unfortunately I don’t really have time but it’s just one of those things.
“You need 100% confidence in what you’re doing and it’s not that I don’t feel confident, but at the moment the window is so small that you can miss it. It’s that I need to get a handle of. It’s just not good enough.”
