Verstappen left to fight alone – shocking team stats emerge

After two Grand Prixs in 2025, Red Bull Racing quickly parted ways with the worst teammate Max Verstappen has ever had during his time with the Austrian team. Liam Lawson was on average nine-tenths slower than the Dutchman in two qualifyings and in race pace, the New Zealander was hardly able to overtake other cars.

This led to a quick demotion for Lawson and a promotion for Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese driver had missed the entire preparation because Red Bull thought he was not good enough, but after two races suddenly received the approval from the Red Bull leadership.

Tsunoda started decently in Japan, but in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Miami, the Japanese fell far short of Verstappen. Oddly enough, it was in these races that Tsunoda made it to Q3 and even scored points in Bahrain and Miami.

After Miami came Tsunoda's expensive crash in Imola, but since Monaco, the Japanese driver seems to have made a step forward. In Monaco and Spain, Tsunoda qualified within five-tenths of Verstappen, and in Canada, it was even less than five-tenths. However, it must be said immediately that these are shorter circuits.

A lap on one of those circuits took about 73 seconds. That's over ten seconds less than in Miami, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. Only the five-tenths difference at Suzuka, also a track with a lap time close to 90 seconds, can be seen as a strong performance by Tsunoda.

From the table, it can be seen that the relative differences are small. During the last Grand Prixs, Tsunoda was relatively closer to Verstappen in the qualification, but a huge step forward is not yet visible. Surprisingly, Japan remains Tsunoda's best qualification.

And that is a problem for Red Bull Racing itself. The nearly five-tenths difference between Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda is not the gap Red Bull Racing can benefit from. Sergio Perez was fired because his distance from Max Verstappen over a whole season was, on average, so large. In free translation: Perez performed better over a whole year than Tsunoda during his best weekend to date.

Choosing internal talent seems not to have worked out well for Red Bull Racing. Everyone thought that something had to change after 2024, but opting for first Lawson and then Tsunoda has only caused more harm to the team.

In the hands of Max Verstappen, the RB21 is a car that can compete for pole position and sometimes for the win. However, in the hands of his teammate, it is a midfield car that could just as easily crash out in Q1.

So far, Verstappen has scored 155 points, his teammates together 7. This makes Verstappen responsible for 96% of the points. It's also the reason Red Bull is not second in the constructors but fourth. The 37 points behind Mercedes could be caught up with a stronger qualifying teammate. Perez wasn't that, nor was Lawson, and for now, Tsunoda also seems not suitable.