F1 team principal still thinks that Liam Lawson has a faster car than Max Verstappen

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Racing Bulls duo Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar have both outscored Yuki Tsunoda since the driver swap two races into the 2025 season. Tsunoda has only notched 25 points alongside Max Verstappen.

Max Verstappen predicted that Lawson would be faster for Racing Bulls, and so it has proved. The consensus in the early part of the season was that the VCARB02 was easier to drive.

Since then, Red Bull have introduced a series of upgrades, including a transformative new floor in Mexico. A run of three wins in four Grands Prix catapulted Verstappen back into the F1 title fight.

There were suggestions at one point that Verstappen’s title chances would improve at Racing Bulls. This talk has now cooled.

Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls car is still ‘more stable’ than Max Verstappen’s Red Bull

If Red Bull had two drivers scoring at Yuki Tsunoda’s rate, they would be ninth in the standings – only above Alpine. Meanwhile, Racing Bulls are currently sixth, fronting an intense four-team battle.

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Dutch journalist Erik van Haren said an unnamed team principal claimed in Mexico that Racing Bulls still had a ‘more stable’ car.

With Hadjar set for a promotion, Tsunoda is hoping to rejoin his former team and revive his career in 2026. That will almost certainly be his only chance of staying on the F1 grid.

“Racing Bulls, when you look at the car at some tracks, they’re really strong,” Van Haren said. “There was even a team principal saying to me last week in Mexico that he still thinks Racing Bulls have a better car, or at least a more stable car, than Red Bull.

“The only thing with Racing Bulls is that the drivers still have to prove themselves. Hadjar, we still expect him to go to Red Bull. But Lawson has to fight for his seat.”

Liam Lawson now thinks leaving Red Bull was for the best

Privately, Red Bull may already know the four drivers they want to be racing in 2026. But the delay keeps Hadjar, Lawson and Tsunoda motivated.

Indeed, Red Bull fear they could lose out on prize money if they tell Tsunoda he’s being dropped. They’re only 10 points behind second-place Ferrari in the constructors’, largely thanks to Verstappen.

Lawson thinks he’s benefited from losing his Red Bull seat, noting that he’s felt increasingly ‘comfortable’ at Racing Bulls as the season has gone.

While he denies that he lost confidence, the New Zealander failed to finish in the points in his first six races post-demotion. He’s scored in five of the 12 since.