Dec.20 (GMM) Yuki Tsunoda “would have deserved” a promotion to Purple Bull Racing, however misplaced out to Liam Lawson in key areas.
That’s the reason of crew advisor Dr Helmut Marko, as Purple Bull introduced that rookie Lawson, 22, and never the rather more skilled Tsunoda, might be changing Sergio Perez for 2025.
Marko says the Japanese driver took the information properly.
“He’s in Japan proper now and I spoke to him on the telephone,” Marko informed f1-insider.com. “He took the information comparatively calmly.
“I informed him to maintain pushing arduous with the Racing Bulls after which we’ll see what occurs. It was a optimistic response,” the 81-year-old added.
Staff boss Christian Horner insisted it was a tough choice to miss Tsunoda, however indicated that the job of being Max Verstappen’s teammate is “daunting”.
The matter was mentioned at size in a gathering of Purple Bull crew officers and shareholders within the hours instantly after the Abu Dhabi finale.
“The engineers introduced comparative figures, which we used as the idea for the choice,” stated Marko. “In precept, it was a luxurious drawback – each would have deserved the promotion.
“However Lawson could have extra room for enchancment sooner or later. His psychological energy specifically was the deciding issue ultimately.”
Horner additionally famous that Lawson’s “tempo was a bit of bit higher” than Tsunoda’s as they went head-to-head during the last a part of the season at Racing Bulls (RB).
“What struck me most about Liam is that you just put him in a tricky state of affairs and he copes. He has a tricky racing mentality and he’s not afraid to combat wheel-to-wheel and even use contact if crucial,” he added.
“So I feel he’ll do a fantastic job for us.”
Former RB (beforehand Toro Rosso-Alpha Tauri) crew boss Franz Tost, nonetheless, has a transparent warning for the younger New Zealander.
“All I can say about Liam is that he has to do his personal factor and by no means attempt to compete with Max,” stated the Austrian. “He’s removed from previous his prime and has infinite capability. And he now has the self esteem of a four-time world champion.
“If Liam focuses on Max’s occasions, it’ll go fallacious for him. He should solely take into consideration himself and attempt to enhance the automobile along with Max. Anything could be deadly and doomed to failure,” Tost stated.
As for Lawson, he smiled as he defined that Marko’s infamous brutality with driver selections has ready him properly for his new function. “Ah, the telephone calls from Helmut once I was about 16,” he stated. “He all the time put the stress on immediately.
“You simply knew that if you happen to didn’t carry out, you’d be fired. That’s undoubtedly robust, but it surely actually prepares you for Formulation 1.”
