MotoGP comparison made amid ‘completely unacceptable’ Red Bull situation

Former F1 driver Mark Webber has drawn an interesting comparison between the current driver predicament facing Red Bull and a recent scenario in MotoGP.

Red Bull have ruthlessly decided to ditch Liam Lawson and replace him with Yuki Tsunoda from the Japanese Grand Prix after just two races of the new F1 season.

Lawson has returned to Racing Bulls following a disastrous two-race stint with the main Red Bull team, while Tsunoda will move in the opposite direction having been promoted in a direct seat swap.

Red Bull hope Tsunoda, who becomes Max Verstappen’s fifth teammate since 2018, can finally address the performance issues which have plagued recent drivers to have partnered the Dutchman.

Giving his take on Red Bull’s ongoing dilemma, Webber likened the situation at his former team to Marc Marquez winning six world championships with Honda before making a switch to MotoGP rivals Ducati.

“The scenario that Red Bull find themselves in [is] to try and have two drivers contributing to the performance, let alone points-wise,” Webber told the Formula For Success podcast.

“There has to be some corners where the second driver shows Max a way, but there’s no contribution. Max is literally carrying that whole car himself. We’re looking at two or three-tenths per sector [as the gap between Verstappen and Lawson], and that’s just completely unacceptable.

“It’s like Marc Marquez when he left Honda; Marc Marquez engineered his way into riding this motorcycle over years – and on motorbikes, if you’re uncomfortable or something happens, you can injure yourself.

“If Liam Lawson was the equivalent on a Honda now, he’d probably be injured because he couldn’t find the speed – he’d be down the road. So when Marquez leaves Honda, no one can ride the bike.

“That’s the interesting thing also with Max – who knows how long he stays at Red Bull, he might be there for another three or four years – but the team also have to get this car useable for not just one person on the planet.”

How big a challenge does Red Bull face? 

Webber also raised concerns about what Red Bull will do next if Tsunoda also struggles alongside Verstappen.

Asked how the late Eddie Jordan, who passed away aged 76 last month following a battle with cancer, would have reacted to the news, the Australian responded: “I think he would be [saying it was the right decision].

“I think he would be [saying that Lawson] needs the vice released because he's going to have a chance to cool his jets a bit, go back to the ‘smaller’ team where he’s got some experience already – he’s only done two races with the ‘big’ team.

“But, clearly, it looks so challenging. Max is the only one that can extract the lap time out of that car. Sergio for certain races last year is now looking like a magician. It’s interesting what they do there.

“A few tenths, three or four-tenths is a huge gap in our business, but Liam hasn’t connected with that car. Can he go and just find his feet in his career and get going again in the smaller team?

“And if Yuki doesn’t fire up in this other car, what happens then? What happens then, if it’s still [like that] and they’re all on the ropes? That’s going to be a very interesting dynamic.”