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Alpine F1 driver Pierre Gasly gave a short reaction after Yuki Tsunoda posted a picture of himself in Red Bull overalls ahead of the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix next weekend. The 24-year-old was promoted to the Austrian team to replace a struggling Liam Lawson, who had failed to score any points in the RB21 in the first two races.
It has been a tough start to the first full season for Lawson as he qualified in P20 in both Sprint Qualifying and Qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix on top of his Q1 exit in Australia as well.
Yuki Tsunoda, on the other hand, has made a blistering start to his 2025 campaign, as he has qualified best of the rest in two of the three qualifying sessions thus far but has only been able to convert them into three points due to VCARB's poor strategy calls.
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Red Bull switched Yuki Tsunoda for Liam Lawson at the Milton Keynes outfit ahead of his home race after being impressed by his performances on the track. On his social media platform, Instagram, the 24-year-old posted a picture of himself in Red Bull overalls and wrote in the caption:
"Ready for the challenge ahead."
In the comments section, Tsunoda found support from his ex-teammate and Alpine driver Pierre Gasly, who gave a two-word reaction to the post and wrote:
"Looking Sharp."
Red Bull confirmed that the Japanese would have the drive alongside Max Verstappen for the remainder of the 2025 season.
Red Bull advisor gives his honest take on swapping Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson
Red Bull driver advisor Helmut Marko stated that he believed that Yuki Tsunoda had undergone a transformation on and off the track in his approach to racing in the 2025 season. In an interview with Motorsport.com’s sister publication Formel1.de, the Austrian reflected on the decision and said:
“Yuki Tsunoda is a fast driver, we know that, but he’s had his ups and downs. That’s why we thought Lawson was the better and stronger candidate. But Yuki has undergone a transformation. He changed his management, and in this situation, this was simply the best option.
“Because even in Suzuka, although Lawson knows the track, on the other hand, Hadjar didn’t know China either and was immediately on pace, almost as fast as Yuki – at least in qualifying. So it was a downward spiral that we needed to break in order to give Lawson a future in his career. Yuki is in his fifth year. And experience in such difficult conditions is an enormous factor."
The Japanese driver was earlier overlooked for a role as the second driver at Red Bull at the end of the 2024 season after the latter went for Liam Lawson instead.
