Red Bull Racing is facing a crisis. With them winning races, taking pole positions, and boasting a driver they've turned into a champion, it may not look it from the outside. Yet, something is going wrong at the Milton Keynes squad that has become impossible to ignore.
Yuki Tsunoda is the latest in a string of drivers to fail in the second seat at the team. Tsunoda replaced Liam Lawson, who replaced Sergio Perez, who replaced Alex Albon, who replaced Pierre Gasly. Red Bull brought in each name to help them become the best. And each failed in that task.
Instead, the team has their prize asset, Max Verstappen, to thank for their prestige. The four-time champion has flourished at Red Bull. Yet it seems he is the reason the team has so much success rather than the other way around. In a quality car, Verstappen dominates, and in a less-strong machine, he continues to shine. Ironically, the worse his car is, the better he seems. And Verstappen has a very poor car for 2025.
Driven by three drivers in the opening three rounds, Red Bull's RB21 entry has only had one driver who has scored points. You guessed it, it's Max Verstappen. Red Bull removed Lawson, one of the most inexperienced drivers on the grid, after just two grands prix. Then Tsunoda, his replacement, fared worse in the senior team's car than in the Racing Bulls entry. How has it got this bad?
It's not news that Red Bull designs their F1 entries to match Verstappen's driving style. Albon once used the analogy of Verstappen wanting his cars to be like a video game with the sensitivity turned to the maximum. That twitchy development direction has netted Verstappen four titles. However, each has come at the expense of his teammate's comfort in driving the second car. Whoever occupies that second seat can seldom match Verstappen's results.
The delta in performance between Red Bull's two drivers was not a problem in 2022 or 2023. Their advantage out front let Perez pick up regular podiums and even some victories. The Mexican cruised to P2 in the standings in 2023 and only missed out on the vice-champion title by three points the previous year. That turned into a winless P8 in the championship by 2024. Now, in 2025, the second RB21 is pointless at the time of writing. The trajectory of car drivability is clear.
Verstappen's seemingly limitless talent is masking the problem at the team. He sits among the top positions of the championship, yes, but that's despite the car, not because of it. While his nearest title contenders at McLaren can afford a poor weekend and likely score a podium, Verstappen cannot. To win, he must outdrive the ability of his car. It's fantastic to watch, but it's not where any driver wants to be.
Verstappen is becoming increasingly public with his frustrations, too. He criticized the team for their harsh demotion of Lawson. A social media like on a post by 2013 F1 driver and Dutch compatriot Guido van der Garde was most telling. Van der Garde shared his harsh thoughts on Lawson's drop on Instagram, which Verstappen subsequently supported.
For Verstappen to endorse words that included, "In my opinion, this comes closer to bullying or a panic move than actual high athlete achievements," is extraordinary. He later explained that he's shared his thoughts internally also but confirmed that he "liked the comment so ... that speaks for itself."
Make no mistake, this was not an uncharacteristic move by Verstappen to support Lawson. Yes, he'll undoubtedly respect the New Zealander as much as his other teammates. However, this criticism was about sharing his annoyance that Red Bull is not addressing his complaints about the car development. The reigning champion believes that the car is the problem, not the driver on the other side of the garage. With Tsunoda failing to score in Japan while Verstappen took pole position and the win, it's hard to argue against it.
Verstappen compared the 2024 RB20 to a "kangaroo" around Monaco. He grew increasingly frustrated over the team radio over last year, too. "Don't give me that bull***t now ... I'm trying to rescue what's left, for f**k's sake," was one standout moment of anger in last year's Hungarian GP. Claims that his results and performances were papering over cracks began before then. Now, those cracks are fully exposed.
Red Bull is floundering for a solution. The problem is that the more they try, the more they look like a toppling house of cards. They sacked Perez, breaking the Mexican's contract, at the end of 2024. Lawson had one of the fewest minutes on track in pre-season testing to familiarize himself with the car. Two races later, he was gone. And now Tsunoda, a driver I never thought would drive for Red Bull, has picked up the pieces to the same disappointing result.
Verstappen is a silver bullet solution for a disappointing car who so happens to drive for Red Bull. But will he remain there? Any of their rivals would hire him in a heartbeat. After all, why would Verstappen want to outdrive an okay car every week when he could just race an exceptional one? Poor strategy calls and teammate politics still see Norris breeze to wins and podiums in this season's best car. That must seem much more appealing than Verstappen needing to fight his team on top of his fellow drivers.
Red Bull has already lost their aerodynamic genius, Adrian Newey. If Verstappen heads to the exit too, they're in real trouble. 2075.5 of the teams' 3112.5 points scored between 2020 and 2024 were from Verstappen. In other words, he's scored twice as many points as his teammates over that half-decade. There's no replacing a talent like that. Red Bull has bet all their chips on Verstappen, and Verstappen isn't happy. Now, more than ever, they need to create a car that both drivers can excel in. If not to appease their star, but to prepare for a future when he's no longer there to rescue them.
