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Yuki Tsunoda Expresses Surprise at Potential Red Bull Shift Favoring Liam Lawson Over Him
Yuki Tsunoda Offers Unusual Opinion on Potential Liam Lawson Promotion to Red Bull
"Selecting Liam for the role would be odd."
Yuki Tsunoda believes it would be odd if Red Bull opted to bypass him in favor of Liam Lawson as a replacement for Sergio Perez.
Rumors have been rampant regarding Red Bull possibly replacing Perez after the summer break, following his poor performance since the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Perez's string of disappointing performances has left Red Bull exposed in the F1 constructors' championship, especially with McLaren's recent comeback.
Multiple sources indicate that Red Bull is contemplating a switch from Perez to Lawson, following Lawson's recent test session with the team, with Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo also being potential candidates.
Throughout 2024, Tsunoda has consistently outshone Ricciardo, yet it seems Red Bull remains unconvinced about offering the Japanese driver a chance to team up with Max Verstappen.
Prior to the Hungarian Grand Prix, during an event where Crash.net was present in the paddock, Tsunoda spoke about the rumors involving the second Red Bull seat.
"Indeed, I believe I'm entitled to the seat next to Max," he affirmed.
"If I weren't prepared, I couldn't have declared the upcoming season, even at VCARB."
"I feel more prepared now than in the past three years to compete against the leading teams, aim for the top spots, and even challenge Max. Ultimately, they are the ones who will make the decisions, and that's something beyond my control.
"My attention is solely on the tasks ahead in the upcoming two races. Haas is narrowing the gap, so it's crucial for me to remain concentrated alongside our team. We'll see what happens. Just like the past races, my concentration is on delivering my best performance."
Tsunoda was questioned on the possibility of Lawson being promoted to Red Bull ahead of him.
The current RB driver characterized the situation as "strange," noting that Tsunoda believes he has demonstrated his abilities more than Lawson.
"Tsunoda mentioned, 'Selecting Liam would be odd,'. He acknowledged that Liam performed admirably during the simulator run, but believes his own contributions surpassed those efforts."
"Thus, we'll observe the outcome. Ultimately, they understand the way to handle the drivers."
Tsunoda has also verified that a "significant discussion" with Christian Horner or Helmut Marko has not occurred thus far.
“He described it as more of an informal conversation, akin to what you’d find in the service industry, rather than explicit negotiations. It seems they aren’t in a hurry. Checo’s contract was extended a few races prior, following his impressive performances. When a driver is doing well, there’s no incentive for them to switch drivers.”
Ultimately, their actions turned out to be beneficial for Checo, as their intention was to avoid causing any stress, which is certainly justifiable.
"Personally, they encouraged me to concentrate on my current tasks and therefore, we haven't had an in-depth discussion yet."
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