F1 Q&A: Red Bull, Yuki Tsunoda, Aston Martin, Sprint Races and Best Circuits not on the calendar

If Max Verstappen leaves the Red Bull, are they even bigger than the simple losing the stellar driver? It seems that they would lose the only person who can drive their car, an apparently self -refined situation. Is it likely that they make their 2026 car more driveable to mitigate this risk? – Tom

One of the most interesting aspects of the exchange of Lawson-Tsunoda pilots is that it gives another perspective on the Red Bull of the state with their car.

Verstappen believes that at the moment it is the fourth faster car of F1 – then behind McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari. Although on average the qualification rhythm in the three sessions is actually the second fastest behind McLaren.

But they may only be both these things with Verstappen.

The problem for Red Bull is that they have a brilliant and a medium pilot, in terms of F1 – and this remains the case of Tsunoda in second place, or at least this is what most would believe right now.

So it is almost a case of division of the difference between drivers to judge the car’s level.

The bottom line seems to be that the new Red Bull is not simply a car, and certainly one that is unpredictable and does not generate confidence in a driver. Verstappen also has difficulty guiding, but it is so good that he is able to convince a good time.

Verstappen is considered on most as the best pilot in F1 at the moment – so if it is true, it is obvious that the car would be worse with practically anyone else.

It seems that Red Bull has chased the peak aerodynamic performance at the expense of guidance – which is ironic, because it is exactly the opposite of the philosophy that Adrian Newey has supported for his entire career.

The legendary Newney designer, who stopped working on the Red Bull in F1 last April, and has just reached the end of his first month with Aston Martin, has always believed that it was better to have a slightly less than the driver less than the driver can use everything, rather than more theoretical decrease strength that it is not possible to access because the car is too “picky”. Or, as Lawson said, the “window” is too tight.

Like all teams, Red Bull designed the best car that could for the new season. The question that blocks on them is now: do they know how to solve it?