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In a shocking revelation, Helmut Marko has revealed that Adrian Newey played a role in Yuki Tsunoda being snubbed by Red Bull in 2024. Last season, it was more or less a shootout between Liam Lawson and the Japanese driver for Sergio Perez's seat.
The Kiwi had replaced Daniel Ricciardo after the F1 Singapore GP, and depending on how he performed against Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull was supposed to take a call on who they would put alongside Max Verstappen for 2025. In the end, it was Liam Lawson who got the nod over the Japanese driver even though there wasn't much to choose between the two.
After just two races in the season, Liam Lawson has, however, been dumped by Red Bull, and Yuki Tsunoda has been promoted. The decision has surprised a lot of people but Helmut Marko has made a surprise revelation where he put it all down to Adrian Newey not being happy with the Japanese driver.
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In a shocking revelation, Marko revealed that the former aero head of Red Bull has not been impressed with Yuki Tsunoda since he collided with Pierre Gasly in Silverstone in 2022. The collision between the two teammates left debris on the track, which was ultimately stuck under Max Verstappen's car.
The debris eventually cost Max Verstappen a win in that race, and according to Helmut Marko, since that point, Adrian Newey didn't like Yuki Tsunoda. Talking to Kleine Zeitung, the 81-year-old said:
"For a long time, Yuki had the image of not performing consistently and making silly mistakes here and there. That's what happened last year in Mexico, where the decisive phase for us began. With Lawson, it was the exact opposite at first: he came on and delivered straight away, no matter how great the pressure was. In retrospect, however, it wasn't the right decision."
He added:
"In general, however, a lot can be traced back to a single incident. At Silverstone, Tsunoda once drove into Pierre Gasly's car, and parts of the cars on the track damaged the underbody of Verstappen's car, which cost him the race. Adrian Newey was furious at the time. From that point on, Yuki was a red rag to him. But now Newey is gone, and Yuki has worked hard on himself."
Whether the claim is true or false is hard to gauge, especially since Adrian Newey was on garden leave last season when the call to sign Lawson over Tsunoda was made.
Red Bull backs Yuki Tsunoda to even be a number 1 driver in the future
In further affirmation for the Japanese driver, Helmut Marko claimed that the progress that Yuki Tsunoda has shown since the winter break, he could potentially be a no.1 driver in the team as well. Talking about the latest Red Bull graduate, he said:
"Yes, absolutely. He came out of the winter break strong and delivered two great races, in which only the strategy department prevented him from achieving a better placing. Yuki has changed management, he's simply grown up—and he's got a lot of self-confidence anyway. I heard he said he's already expecting a podium finish in Japan. I'd be happy if Max made it onto the podium... But hey, let's wait and see."
The second seat at Red Bull has always been a bit contentious and it would be interesting to see how Yuki Tsunoda handles the pressure because he will be facing a lot of it this weekend.
