Sergio Perez has come under a lot of pressure in Red Bull. There have been a lot of talks as to who will replace Perez if his disappointing performances continue. Liam Lawson has been taken into consideration by a lot of experts. But Yuki Tsunoda thinks this will be a weird choice for the Austrian outfit to make.
Since last year, Sergio Perez was not able to keep up with his teammate in the Drivers’ Championship. Last year, it wasn’t much of a problem as the Red Bull RB19 was extremely dominant and allowed Perez to finish 2nd in the Championship. But this year is a completely different story.
This season, other teams such as McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes have matched or even exceeded Red Bull’s pace. While Max Verstappen is always found at the front battling against these teams, Sergio Perez is not even able to get into Q3 during his qualifying performances. In recent days, a performance clause that was entered into Perez’s contract has surfaced. This could pave the way for Liam Lawson to enter F1.
Yuki Tsunoda does not want Liam Lawson in Red Bull
While Liam Lawson is reported to be one of the candidates for Sergio Perez’s replacement, Yuki Tsunoda is completely against it.
“If they choose Liam, that would be weird. I mean, for sure, Liam did a really good job when he drove in the team, but I think I did more than that. And we’ll see how it goes. In the end, they know how to manage the drivers.”
Liam Lawson made his F1 debut last year when he stepped into the AlphaTauri (now VCARB) to replace an injured Daniel Ricciardo. In the 5 races he took part in, he did manage to impress a lot of people within the paddock. This made him an immediate candidate for an F1 seat.
If Sergio Perez were to be replaced, Martin Brundle reckons Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson would be the frontrunner to take his seat 👀#F1 pic.twitter.com/c4rOFFrJYv
— Crash.net – Formula 1 (@CRASH_NET_F1) July 14, 2024
But Yuki Tsunoda thinks that if Red Bull were to replace Sergio Perez, Liam Lawson would be a weird choice because Yuki himself has a lot of experience in F1 and has proved that he is capable of delivering strong results with a good car.
This season alone, Yuki managed to score a lot of points which has placed VCARB in 6th place. He would most certainly be a better option for Red Bull considering that Lawson does not yet have much experience with the team.
But this does not mean Lawson will not enter F1. If Yuki were to replace Perez at Red Bull, they would still need to find a driver for the empty seat at VCARB. Ideally, Lawson will take up this role to start getting some more experience in the sport.
Do you think Yuki Tsunoda is right in this matter? Post your thoughts in the comments section below.
Rohit Kumar 
Sara Chavan