Former Formula 1 driver Christian Danner has claimed that Red Bull will struggle with the same second driver issues, despite its recent switch.
Danner, who made 36 F1 starts between 1985 and 1989, believes that Red Bull should be changing their hyper-sensitive car, rather than their driver.
It was announced on Thursday that Yuki Tsunoda would replace Liam Lawson as Max Verstappen’s team mate, with Lawson dropping back down to RB.
The decision comes after just two races of the 2025 season, in which Lawson failed to score a single point, as well as being eliminated in the first part of all three qualifying sessions.
Tsunoda, who will step into the Red Bull for the first time at his home race in Japan, has been at RB since 2021, with his highest overall finish of 12th in the Drivers’ Standings coming last year.
Tsunoda move won’t make Red Bull ‘fundamentally different’
Undoubtedly, this is the biggest moment in Tsunoda’s racing career, as he finally gets the big move he’s been waiting so long for.
However, since Daniel Ricciardo departed the team in 2018, there have now been four very well respected drivers that have failed to get anywhere near the pace of Verstappen.
Danner believes that this is unlikely to change with Tsunoda, speaking to AvD Motorsport Magazine, he said: “I stick to my guns: it doesn’t matter who you put in the car, they will all have the same problems.
“I don’t think it will be fundamentally different, even if you put Tsunoda in or someone else, I would rather change the car than keep swapping drivers.’
“The careers and also the future of young Formula 1 drivers are being played around with quite nonchalantly here, I’m sure Tsunoda is questioning whether he really wants to drive the Red Bull.
“The problem is simply that Max Verstappen needs or wants a car that his team-mates can’t drive. How the team deals with this is a fundamental decision and ultimately also an internal political problem between Christian Horner and Helmut Marko.
“Verstappen drives faster than everyone else, even with a different car, I’m sure of that.”
Verstappen’s style similar to Schumacher’s
Over the past few years, so much has been made about the fact Verstappen requires such a pointy and aggressive car, which comes at the detriment of his team mates’ performance.
Danner believes that the situation is similar to when Michael Schumacher was driving for Benetton, back in the early 1990s.
“(It) reminds me of what Gerhard Berger and Johnny Herbert, who drove with Michael Schumacher, told me.” he said.
“Gerhard took over Michael’s Benetton and said he got in and thought someone was trying to kill him. The car was absolutely undriveable, but Michael won the World Championship with it.
“It’s a question of driving style. It’s a philosophy that obviously only very, very, very few Formula 1 racing drivers have mastered.“
