Franz Tost's astonishing rant at Liam Lawson-Yuki Tsunoda swap
Franz Tost gives a brutally honest response to Red Bull's F1 driver swap decision.
Former Racing Bulls team principal Franz Tost has delivered a scathing verdict on Red Bull’s latest controversial F1 driver swap.
Red Bull’s brutal decision to replace Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda just two races into the new season sent shockwaves through the F1 paddock and was the dominant story heading into the Japanese Grand Prix.
Lawson endured a woeful first two races with Red Bull and has been sent back to sister squad Racing Bulls for the rest of the season, with Tsunoda earning promotion to move in the other direction.
Tost, who is a key supporter of Tsunoda having brought the Japanese driver into F1 during his tenure in charge of the Faenza-based outfit, did not hold back as he reacted to a decision he believes should have been made much earlier.
"I would have gone with Yuki Tsunoda from the start. I said that already – I made it clear last autumn,” Tost said during an interview on the Austrian ORF broadcast.
“Why? Yuki is much faster than Lawson. You could give Lawson 100 years, and he still wouldn’t be as fast as Yuki. And Yuki is more experienced, so what’s the issue? It’s a very simple decision.
"It’s definitely a confirmation that the right call was made. Yuki has incredible natural speed – I’ve been saying that for years. Now, he just needs to put it all together properly. He’s still too emotional in the car at times, and maybe that was one of the reasons they didn’t pick him over Lawson in the first place.
"But in terms of raw pace, Yuki absolutely belongs among the best Formula 1 drivers. And if he can now translate that into consistency, perform in the races, and keep his emotions more or less in check, then it’s going to be a very, very good season for Red Bull Racing and for Yuki Tsunoda.”
When it was put to him that Suzuka was the first track this year that Lawson has driven before, Tost added: "Knowing the track is one thing. Being fast is another.
“The decision to put Yuki in the car now was absolutely right, because Liam is simply too slow.”
Tsunoda impressed on his first day driving for Red Bull as he ended up with the sixth fastest time in opening practice, just 0.107 seconds slower than teammate Max Verstappen.
He was only 18th in a heavily disrupted second session but did not complete a representative lap on the soft tyres.
Meanwhile, Lawson was fifth in FP2, behind rookie Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton.
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