McLaren CEO Zak Brown has criticised Red Bull for opting not to give Yuki Tsuonda its second F1 seat following its challenging F1 Australian GP.
Red Bull struggled for pace in Australia, failing to match the pace of the McLarens all weekend despite rain levelling the field.
While Max Verstappen turned around a poor Friday to challenge for victory in the closing laps on Sunday, the second Red Bull paled in comparison.
Liam Lawson endured a nightmare weekend. Having never raced at the Albert Park circuit, the New Zealander struggled to adapt to both a new car and a new track.
Following his Q1 elimination, Lawson trundled around at the back for most of the race before spinning into the barriers in the closing stages. Verstappen meanwhile finished in second place.
Yuki Tsunoda, who, yet again, Red Bull opted not to promote, enjoyed a highly competitive weekend. Qualifying in fifth, he ran in the points for most of the afternoon before slipping out of the points in the closing stages. It was in stark contrast to Lawson’s nadir first outing.
Zak Brown:’Strange’ choices made by Red Bull
Speaking after the race to Sky F1, Zak Brown questioned Red Bull’s decison to not promote Tsunoda, adding the team made strange choices.
“I think it’s going to be a very exciting year,” Brown said.
“Yuki did a great job, [he’s] probably the guy that should be in the Red Bull if you look at how he’s performed. But they seem to make some strange driver choices.”
Christian Horner backs Liam Lawson
Red Bull Racing CEO and Team Principal Christian Horner acknowledged the struggles of Lawson in Australia. However, he backed his driver.
As reported by Planet F1, he revealed substantial setup changes hampered Lawson. However, he said a glimmer of hope existed amongst the gloom.
“It was a difficult weekend for him,” Horner said.
“We changed the car so to put a bit more downforce on the car. It’s a very hard track to overtake at. We took the risk of leaving him out, because he was outside of the points, and we thought, ‘You know what, roll the dice, maybe it’ll come right’, but exactly at the point that it started to rain more, so it’s difficult to blame him for that that last spin.
“I think the one flash of light that he can take out of it, is that on the dry tyres, he actually posted the second-fastest lap time of the Grand Prix. Did a [1]:22.9, versus Max’s 23.0, Lando 22.1.
“So I think if there was one positive we can take, [it is] that his pace actually on the dry [tyres] was not too bad.
“The problem is having missed [F]P3, you’re on the back foot, and then, the pressure builds. He grabbed a brake on the second set of tyres, and then the third set of tyres, he was half a second up, and then another mistake there.
Horner set expectations for Lawson at this weekend’s Chinese GP, admitting the race will be “difficult” for him.
“So, I think next weekend will be tough, because it’s a sprint race, at a track that he’s not been to before.
“But, he’s pretty resilient. This weekend wasn’t representative of what he’s capable of.”
Feature Image Credit: McLaren Racing Media Centre
