[Credits: X/ Red Bull Racing]

Max Verstappen Expresses Hidden Disagreement After Red Bull Racing Swaps Drivers for the Japanese Grand Prix

Red Bull Racing will race with Yuki Tsunoda as their second driver from the Japanese Grand Prix!

[Credits: X/ Red Bull Racing]

Red Bull Racing were in hot water for the past week. The team is suffering from driver issues for their second seat since 2019. However, the Bulls were confident with their rookie contender before the start of the 2025 season. Red Bull put Liam Lawson in the second seat to replace the departing Sergio “Checo” Perez.

Evidently, their decisions backfired on them. Lawson is consistently unable to put his Red Bull ahead of the backmarkers for the past two races. In a toxic environment like Red Bull Racing, Lawson’s replacement was imminent.

Liam Lawson’s demotion from Red Bull to the sister team, Racing Bulls was announced yesterday. This means that the much experienced, Yuki Tsunoda, is going to race for Red Bull from the Japanese Grand Prix. Tsunoda’s promotion spread to the media long before this announcement. There were many confirmed reports about the driver swap.

Yuki Tsunoda has been consistently defeating his teammates in the past few races at Racing Bulls. He will have to work under a completely different environment and pressure at Red Bull. Amidst all this, some rumors have spread around the paddock about Max Verstappen. He liked a post which criticised Red Bull’s hasty driver swap. Could it be that the Dutchman is sick of these weird driver swaps?

Red Bull Racing Promote Yuki Tsunoda Ahead of Home Race

Yuki Tsunoda would be on cloud nine right now. The Japanese driver has been with the Red Bull junior team for 5 years continuously. He was under a lot of pressure to deliver for the team. Although, Tsunoda was sidelined before the 2025 season for the Red Bull, he still didn’t lose hope. Yuki Tsunoda was more than ready to deliver for Racing Bulls and earn himself the much-coveted seat at Red Bull.

Tsunoda beat his former teammate in two out of two races in the 2025 season. He could have won points for his team in both races but he lost to their wrong strategy decisions.

Announcing that @yukitsunoda07 will partner Max from the #JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/Pz05P7cFKF
— Oracle Red Bull Racing | オラクル・レッドブルレーシング (@redbullracing) March 27, 2025

Yuki Tsunoda will have to deliver under high pressure. He is also going to appear in front of his home crowd in the Red Bull colors for the first time Tsunoda needs to prove that he is worthy of the “cursed” seat. In a highly scrutinising environment like Red Bull, Yuki Tsunoda needs to match his pace with Max Verstappen if he wishes to keep his seat.

However, considering the pace with which the Japanese driver has evolved in the past few years. he might become the “knight in shining armor” for the mad Bull.

Is Max Verstappen Unhappy with Red Bull Racing’s Decision?

Giedo van der Garde, a former F1 driver and currently a racing analyst, had posted on his Instagram page about Red Bull’s decision to swap drivers. He subsequently thrashed Red Bull and other fans who were harsh against Liam Lawson. In his post he accused Red Bull of “bullying” Liam Lawson after giving him less time to get accustomed to his new car. He criticised Red Bull’s panic moves and then went on to comment on their behaviour-

“They made a decision – fully aware – gave Liam two races only to crush his spirit. Don’t forget the dedication, hard work and success Liam has put in his career so far to achieve the level where he is now.”

Max Verstappen liked this post on Instagram about Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda swapping seats at Red Bull. pic.twitter.com/jWDwjjdgdS
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) March 27, 2025

However, things took a new turn when Max Verstappen, the current Red Bull driver and defending champion, liked the post. He is not the only one, Pierre Gasly and Oscar Piastri have also liked Garde’s post on Instagram. Gasly himself was a victim of Red Bull’s unceremonious demotion and disrespect in 2019. Max Verstappen’s actions, however, put forward a different story altogether. Verstappen had earlier commented that Liam Lawson would be better suited to the Racing Bulls car.

Is Max Verstappen finally giving in to the disappointments of Red Bull Racing? The Dutch Lion has suffered badly due to the lack of a teammate in the previous seasons. He was only able to win the championships because of his raw talent and speed, which helped overcome the other drivers using Red Bull’s superior performance. In any case, the weakness of Red Bull is clearly visible in the 2025 season. They were unable to develop their car compared to other teams.

What Lies Ahead for The Bulls?

Red Bull Racing will have to put their entire faith in Yuki Tsunoda. They will also need to analyse the car and create better upgrades for the future if they want Verstappen to compete on the front. Yuki Tsunoda may seem like their best gamble currently, but he needs time to adjust to his new environment. In any case, it would be interesting to see how things turn out for Red Bull in 2025. They are repeating the same mistakes they made after they won four championships with Sebastian Vettel.

Is this the last time we see the Red Bulls in front of the grid? Is the 2026 season going to be the end of Red Bull’s success? Follow The Playoffs to stay up to date with the latest news on Formula 1.

Formula 1

Formula 1 2025 Season

Japanese Grand Prix

Liam Lawson

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

Yuki Tsunoda

Rohan Singh

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I work as a Writer at The Playoffs specialising in NHL, Formula 1 and Motorsports. I got into online journalism a couple of years ago. I used to be an intern for a website managing their Formula 1 content and then I served an entire year as a contractual writer.