Apr.1 (GMM) Red Bull’s current driver predicament can be traced back to an original mistake, according to former Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher.
When it became clear last year that Sergio Perez would not recover from his struggles, the team rejected the idea of snapping up the job-hunting Carlos Sainz.
“I might have chosen an outside driver,” Schumacher told Sky Deutschland. “The mistake from the start was not putting Nico Hulkenberg in the car.
“That was Christian Horner’s decision. That’s what I heard. But they needed a clear, experienced number 2 alongside Max Verstappen. And I think that would have worked well.
“After that, I think Horner really wanted Franco Colapinto, but he shot himself in the foot with his three crashes in the last few races. And then Dr (Helmut) Marko who just said at the time ‘we’ll take our junior’.”
That ‘junior’ was Liam Lawson, who struggled so badly in Australia and China that Yuki Tsunoda will be in the Red Bull cockpit starting from Suzuka.
When Tsunoda was originally overlooked for the seat, Marko said his character and inconsistency were the hurdles. Now, he tells formel1.de: “Tsunoda will finish the season. We expect him to master it.
“Yuki has repeatedly emphasised that he was actually the right man for Red Bull Racing.”
Earlier, Marko said the same thing about Lawson, but he now acknowledges: “It was a mistake.”
He’s hoping he’s not wrong yet again, and believes the early signs from Tsunoda’s simulator sessions in the past few days are “very good”.
“The technical feedback was also good,” Marko added, admitting the perception that Tsunoda lacked knowledge “about the technology and could not set up a car. That also proved to be wrong,” said the 81-year-old.
Marko also hailed Tsunoda’s recent change of management and better physical preparation, describing the diminutive Japanese as a “real muscle-man” in 2025.
However, Schumacher thinks it’s Tsunoda who is now making the mistake, even though Marko admits that “theoretically” the Japanese’s contract meant he could not turn down the request.
“I almost feel the Racing Bull is the better car of the two and easier to drive overall,” he said. “Tsunoda was fast there, and now to come to a new team without any testing alongside Max Verstappen – I don’t see how that can work out.
“If he gets halfway there, everyone says that’s normal. But if he’s as far away as Lawson, then that’s the end of his career. That’s why, as a manager, I would have finished my season, independent of Red Bull, and looked elsewhere.”
It’s all part of a deeper problem for Red Bull, as it’s not just the fact that only Verstappen can handle the difficult RB21, but that even the quadruple world champion is struggling to win with it.
“It is impossible to change the behaviour of a car as complex as the RB21 so quickly,” Marko freely admits. “However, the last meeting with Max and the engineering team went very well.
“We are still confident in our strengths and in the team’s capabilities. But, realistically assessing the situation, we understand that the next three grands prix will be very difficult for Red Bull.”
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