In an exclusive post-2025 F1 season interview with Viaplay Netherlands, Championship runner-up Max Verstappen talked about Red Bull’s controversial Lawson / Tsunoda swap, sharing data and set-ups as well as the importance of drivers having a good working relationship with their race engineer.
After round two of the 2025 F1 season, Red Bull Racing decided to swap Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda for the remainder of the season. The New Zealander experienced a difficult start to his first full F1 season when he crashed at the Australian GP and finished in P12 in the Chinese GP. Red Bull then decided to unceremoniously drop the Kiwi driver ahead of the Japanese GP.
Verstappen disagreed with Red Bull’s decision to drop Lawson after two races
Asked about the decision to swap Lawson for Tsunoda two races into the 2025 F1 season, Max Verstappen said he “didn’t agree” with the decision at the time, and praised Lawson for his recovery at Racing Bull following the demotion.
“Not so much, I think. But I feel, two races, of course, for a teammate. I didn’t agree with that at that moment. Because in the end, you ruin someone’s chance at a top team. I have to say that Liam [Lawson] has recovered very well at Racing Bulls.
“One can also say ‘just let it be, I don’t like it anymore’. Two races are way too soon to make a choice. But in the end, Yuki [Tsunoda] came in. And it shows that it was difficult, as our car was just difficult.”
A difficult-to-drive RB21 contributed to teammates’ struggles
With the RB21 being difficult and Verstappen seemingly the only one able to handle the capricious car, the 4-time Champion says that his teammates have attempted to use his set-up, but ultimately differing driving styles will always yield slight differences in set-up. Verstappen says his and Tsunoda’s set-up became more aligned as the 2025 F1 season progressed, but that the Japanese driver preferred “a little more understeer.”
“They will try it, they will try it. Eventually, every driver has his own style. Yuki [Tsunoda] always drove with a little more understeer. Yes, I think so, with how he drove the set-up. But at some point, you always tend to go in the same direction.
“Especially now, in the second half of the season, we often drove with the same philosophy, but always with a little more understeer in Yuki’s [Tsunoda] car.”
Sharing data with teammates
When asked if he still shared data with his teammate, Verstappen responded: “Yes,” but admitted to looking “less” at the data from the other side of the garage.
“Well, not much,” the Dutchman said about taking learnings from looking at the data of his teammates.
Verstappen outlined that the “build-up” during the race weekend and the driver’s working relationship with his race engineer are key factors in improving performance. The 28-year-old reckons that a solid working relationship with the race engineer can help find up to two tenths, which, on a grid as tight as it has been during the 2025 F1 season, can make a big difference.
“But the difference is how you build up a weekend and how you work with your engineer because it’s really about the details.
“In Abu Dhabi, from FP1 to FP3, I wasn’t completely satisfied either. And in the end, I think that with very small changes, we still find two-tenths. But those two-tenths, that’s huge. On the grid, too.”
Importance of the driver having a close working relationship with their race engineer
Verstappen and Race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase have successfully worked together ever since the Dutchman joined Red Bull in 2016. Lambiase, who is considered one of the best race engineers in F1 and shares a close working relationship with Verstappen, could undoubtedly be considered a vital part of the 4-time Champions’ success story.
“I think GP [Lambiase] is really very good,” Verstappen states to the suggestion that having Lambiase by his side is making a difference.
“It’s also very nice to work together, of course. And as I said, it’s about the details. And I think if you work well together […],” the Red Bull driver adds.
Verstappen feels that the personal bond, combined with a good understanding of each other, helps to focus on the finer points that boost performance.
“Yes, a personal bond. And you know each other so well. If you really work on the details, you’ll find one or two-tenths together.”
Confronted with the hypothetical question of whether Lambiase could have improved Tsunoda’s performance had Red Bull opted to switch engineers, Verstappen didn’t rule out that his long-term race engineer’s experience could have benefited.
“Well, through experience, I think. And maybe if you listen carefully to the other side, in terms of feedback, you’ll find something.
“But it really has to do with experience. It doesn’t necessarily have to do with someone not being good.”
