Parc Ferme: Red Bull’s empty queue

One of these questions revolves around the RB21 (and arguably, the RB20) itself. The young Kiwi had barely warmed the seat up before he was unceremoniously dropped kicked back into the junior team following a performance that made Sergio Perez’s achievements in 2024 look good.

Lawson’s replacement, Yuki Tsunoda, has yet to turn a wheel in the latest RB21. However, Parc Ferme is confident that they are not alone in thinking, “What if he performs no better?”

Following on from this, there is an additional thought that would be anathema for Christian Horner and Helmut Marko: “What if the rejected driver then beats his replacement?”

Such an event does not completely fall into the realm of fantasy. Tsunoda hardly buried Liam when he was a teammate at VCARB in 2024.

Since both Racing Bulls outqualified Lawson in the opening races while he was in the RB21, it is more than possible that this pattern will be repeated in Suzuka, albeit with a revised driver lineup in the cars.

The finger-pointing for all these woes now seems to be centering on Max Verstappen and the RB21. That is, the car’s useful window is narrow and only suits Verstappen’s driving style, with none of them being mutually exclusive.

While this might be correct, neither is at fault here. The car is what it was designed to be. Judging by the results and the visible effort the four-time Formula 1 world champion now has to put in, it’s probably not very good. His talent and experience over his teammates, create the performance gap we see.

However, making the car easier to drive may well reduce the time deficit between the Dutchman and the mortal in the other car. However, they may then both end up residing mid-grid for the season.

The solution to Red Bull’s conundrum resides squarely with its driver line-up. This, in turn, means responsibility is with the good doctor, who arguably has taken his eye off the driver ladder.

Max’s teammate needs to be someone who is comfortable racing a car that suits his preferences. Alex Albon fitted this bill, but unfortunately, “nurturing” is not in the good doctor’s driver development playbook.

At the time, Perez was always a good choice, but as the car increasingly became more “on the nose”, Checo’s confidence seemed to go South.

It's been suggested that Red Bull’s new “Max Verstappen” is a young driver by the name of Arvid Lindblad. Last year, the good doctor was looking to fast-track him into F1. However, it could all be a bit too soon.

Almost a year younger than Kimi Antonelli, he’s barely out of his racing diapers. It’s worth mentioning that Verstappen’s background and subsequent mental strength are fairly unique. A big factor in allowing him to enter F1 at a tender age and be successful. Few are from that mould.

If the Yuki Tsunoda experiment doesn’t work out, Red Bull’s name is unlikely to appear in this year’s F1 constructors' championship for a few years.

Parc Ferme wishes Yuki the best of luck for the weekend and hopes his view at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix is not from the back.