Barely three months ago, Yuki Tsunoda’s window to drive for Red Bull Racing in Formula One appeared to have closed. Despite putting forward a strong case through the 2024 season for its sister team, RB, Red Bull passed over Tsunoda when replacing Sergio Pérez. Instead, it promoted Tsunoda’s teammate Liam Lawson into the seat.

Max Verstappen’s new teammate, who makes his Red Bull debut at his home race in Japan this weekend, speaks to Kieran Jackson about the moment which shifted his F1 career trajectory

Yuki Tsunoda will become Max Verstappen’s fifth teammate in six years this weekend when he makes hid Red Bull debut at his home Grand Prix in Japan.

Since making the decision to replace Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull have scrambled to try and control the narrative. For obvious reasons, the Austrian team’s driver management is being called into question.

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has suggested that former technical chief Adrian Newey was part of the reason that Yuki Tsunoda had been overlooked for promotion from the sister Racing Bulls team.

That is the claim put forward by Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko, who recalled how Tsunoda cost Verstappen victory at the Mexican Grand Prix and left Newey “furious”. Yuk