Liam Lawson Joins Red Bull Over Yuki Tsunoda In 'Tight' Decision

A new man will take on the toughest job in Formula 1 — being teammates with Max Verstappen at Red Bull — and his name is Liam Lawson.

When news broke that Red Bull and Sergio Perez were parting ways, it was obvious that Lawson was going to be the guy. He made his way through Red Bull's development program and the team went to great lengths to make sure they kept him in the fold, even when there weren't any race seats available for him.

However, many were surprised and disappointed that the seat wasn't given to Lawson's now-former VCARB teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

I mean, they've got a point. Lawson has never completed a full F1 campaign, while Yuki has four under his belt.

Then Tsunoda outqulaified Lawson in all six races that they were teammates this season, and defeated him 4-2 on race day.

So, while Lawson is an undeniable talent, the empirical data would lead most to give Tsunoda — who I think remains one of the sports' most underrated drivers — the nod at Red Bull.

Well, team boss Christian Horner said that while they went with Lawson, it was a close call between the two drivers.

"It was very, very tight between the two of them," Horner said, per ESPN. "I mean, Yuki is a very fast driver. He's got three or four seasons of experience now. He did a very good job in the tire test for us in Abu Dhabi where the engineers were impressed with how he performed.

"With Liam, when you look and go into the analytics of his race, pace was slightly better in the races that he did. His qualifying pace was very tight with Yuki, and you've got to assume that the potential with Liam having only done 11 Grand Prix, is he's only going to get better and stronger. He's shown real mental resilience and toughness."

It'll be fascinating to see how this plays out because Lawson will need to impress from the second he gets into a Red Bull, and he'll need to do it with Verstappen as his teammate, and therefore measuring stick.

Making matters even more tense, Tsunoda will be a capable option at the team's disposal if he underperforms.

Speaking of Tsunoda, I think his future is going to get interesting too. He'll feel like he got snubbed, and when his current deal with Red Bull is over, he could certainly look elsewhere.

One intriguing option is Aston Martin. They'll be partnering with Honda in 2026 — a company that has backed Yuki heavily over the years — and if current Aston Martin driver Fernando decides to call it a career (I mean, he has to at some point, doesn't he?) then Tsunoda would certainly be an option worth exp