Max Verstappen thinks Red Bull should focus on fixing their 2025 car problems instead of worrying about who’s the second driver.
He’s talking about replacing Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda, starting at the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend.
Verstappen says the car isn’t performing as well as they want.
The whole team knows this and it’s his main focus.
He thinks if the car gets better and easier to drive, the second car’s competitiveness will follow naturally.
Verstappen thinks the start of the season is tough for new drivers like Lawson.
Lawson had only done 11 races before 2025, and they were at different times.
New drivers haven’t competed on most tracks or only did a sprint weekend.
This doesn’t help, says Verstappen.
After spending time at Red Bull’s UK factory, analyzing and trying to fix his car’s instability issues with the team’s engineers, Verstappen says it’s not just one thing causing the problems.
The car gets more nervous and unstable in different parts of curves.
It depends on the curve’s speed, the asphalt, tires, overheating, bumps, and more.
Some tracks are more limiting than others, and some problems are easier to fix.
The team is working hard to make the car faster, Verstappen says.
