Webber: If Tsunoda doesn’t fire up in other car, what happens then?

Webber was commenting on Red Bull Racing's latest decision to put Tsunoda in their RB21 starting from this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix, thus demoting Liam Lawson to their junior team, the Racing Bulls, after the Kiwi struggled to perform in the opening two races of the 2025 F1 season.

Red Bull are still trying to find a solution to the conundrum of having a decent #2 driver alongside Max Verstappen able to deliver points in the constructors' championship, but their decisions so far have raised more questions about the situation.

Sergio Perez was fired at the end of the 2024 F1 season for failing to perform in the RB20, the RB21's predecessor, which only Verstappen could drive, managing to bag a fourth drivers' crown in it.

While the team thought the answer would be Lawson, the youngster failed miserably in the two opening races in Australia and China and, as a result, was replaced by Tsunoda.

"Clearly, it looks so challenging," Webber commented. "Max is the only one that can extract the lap time out of that car. Sergio for certain races last year is now looking like a magician. It’s interesting what they do there.

“A few tenths, three or four-tenths is a huge gap in our business, but Liam hasn’t connected with that car. Can he go and just find his feet in his career and get going again in the smaller team?

“And if Yuki doesn’t fire up in this other car, what happens then? What happens then, if it’s still [like that] and they’re all on the ropes? That’s going to be a very interesting dynamic.

“The scenario that Red Bull find themselves in [is] to try and have two drivers contributing to the performance, let alone points-wise.

“There has to be some corners where the second driver shows Max a way, but there’s no contribution. Max is literally carrying that whole car himself," the Aussie maintained.

The winner of nine grands prix referred to MotoGP, where Marc Marquez was the only driver able to ride the Honda bike, winning six championships before leaving them.

Webber continued: "We’re looking at two or three-tenths per sector [as the gap between Verstappen and Lawson], and that’s just completely unacceptable.

"It’s like Marc Marquez when he left Honda; Marc Marquez engineered his way into riding this motorcycle over years – and on motorbikes, if you’re uncomfortable or something happens, you can injure yourself.

“If Liam Lawson was the equivalent on a Honda now, he’d probably be injured because he couldn’t find the speed – he’d be down the road. So when Marquez leaves Honda, no one can ride the bike.

“That’s the interesting thing also with Max – who knows how long he stays at Red Bull, he might be there for another three or four years – but the team also have to get this car useable for not just one person on the planet," Webber concluded. (Quotes from Formula for Success podcast)