Christian Horner has never allowed ‘amazing’ driver to test drive a Red Bull car

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Red Bull allowed reserve driver Liam Lawson to get behind the wheel of their RB20 at Silverstone last week. While nominally a filming day, it allowed the team to evaluate him amid the uncertainty around Sergio Perez.

Lawson’s mileage was restricted, and he wasn’t able to run standard Pirelli tyres. Nevertheless, Red Bull set him a benchmark based on Max Verstappen’s pace at the British GP weekend.

The New Zealander reportedly fell around two-tenths short of that target, leaving Red Bull engineers underwhelmed. This may hurt his chances of replacing Perez in the second half of the season.

Perez has just two races to save his seat with the world champions after a wretched run of form since the Miami GP. The team will likely be able to activate a break clause in his deal should they wish.

But the decision won’t be based solely on what the 34-year-old does in Hungary and Belgium. Christian Horner and co. must also have enough faith in their plan-b to make the mid-season change worthwhile.

This would hardly be an unprecedented move. Daniil Kvyat (2016) and Pierre Gasly (2019) both lost their Red Bull seats during the campaign, with Verstappen and Alex Albon replacing them.

Christian Horner has never granted Yuki Tsunoda a Red Bull test

Yuki Tsunoda doesn’t seem to be at the forefront of Red Bull’s mind. That’s despite the fact that he’s outscored Daniel Ricciardo by 20 points to 11 in the first half of the season and thrashed him 9-3 in qualifying.

Horner doesn’t think Tsunoda could survive against Verstappen and seems to have held long-term doubts. According to Motorsport Magazin, the team principal has never even allowed him to test a Red Bull car.

That seems remarkable given that the 24-year-old has now completed 75 races for junior team RB. Even academy driver Isack Hadjar had the opportunity to drive Perez’s car during FP1 at Silverstone.

The report raises the possibility that Tsunoda pursues his ambitious elsewhere. Aston Martin could potentially offer him a seat thanks to their tie-up with Honda, but that wouldn’t be until at least 2027, when Fernando Alonso may have retired.

Damon Hill shares his concern about ‘amazing’ Yuki Tsunoda replacing Sergio Perez

Ricciardo has had higher highs than Tsunoda this season, finishing fourth in the Miami Sprint and qualifying fifth in Canada – RB’s best Saturday showing of the season. But the Japanese driver has delivered on a much more consistent basis.

Indeed, he’s finished in the points in half of the 12 Grands Prix so far despite having statistically the sixth-quickest machinery on the grid. Helmut Marko has also praised Tsunoda for his calmer demeanour in the cockpit.

As such, he’s addressed two of the biggest concerns around his driving in the early years of his F1 career. But even though Damon Hill thinks Tsunoda has done an ‘amazing’ job, he’s still unsure of his readiness for a Red Bull seat.

Hill ‘doesn’t know if he can take the pressure’ of racing for the Milton Keynes outfit. The likes of Perez, Albon and Gasly have all previously struggled to manage it.