Mark Webber has given his take on the challenge facing Red Bull as they look to have both drivers contributing to the team’s performance, with the Australian suggesting that the car needs to become “useable” for not just Max Verstappen following the squad’s decision to send Liam Lawson back to Racing Bulls.
After being promoted to the Milton Keynes-based outfit for 2025 to replace Sergio Perez – off the back of two super-sub outings for the sister outfit across 2023 and 2024 – Lawson struggled to get to grips with the RB21 during the first two rounds of the season in Australia and China, the latter seeing him qualify in last place for both the Sprint and the Grand Prix.
It was confirmed in the days after the race that Red Bull had opted to switch Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda from the Japanese Grand Prix onwards, meaning that Tsunoda will make his debut for the squad in front of his home crowd while Lawson will try to find his feet again at Racing Bulls.
Speaking on the Formula For Success podcast, Webber was quizzed by fellow ex-Red Bull driver David Coulthard on how the late Eddie Jordan – who passed away earlier this month aged 76 – would have reacted to the driver swap news.
“I think he would be [saying it was the right decision],” Webber responded. “I think he would be [saying that Lawson] needs the vice released because he’s going to have a chance to cool his jets a bit, go back to the ‘smaller’ team where he’s got some experience already – he’s only done two races with the ‘big’ team.
Liam Lawson replaced by Yuki Tsunoda
“But, clearly, it looks so challenging. Max is the only one that can extract the lap time out of that car. Sergio for certain races last year is now looking like a magician. It’s interesting what they do there.
“A few tenths, three or four-tenths is a huge gap in our business, but Liam hasn’t connected with that car. Can he go and just find his feet in his career and get going again in the smaller team?
“And if Yuki doesn’t fire up in this other car, what happens then? What happens then, if it’s still [like that] and they’re all on the ropes? That’s going to be a very interesting dynamic.”
Webber – who won nine races during his time with the team – continued: “The scenario that Red Bull find themselves in [is] to try and have two drivers contributing to the performance, let alone points-wise.
“There has to be some corners where the second driver shows Max a way, but there’s no contribution. Max is literally carrying that whole car himself.”
Verstappen is responsible for all 36 of Red Bull’s points so far in the 2025 season
Reflecting further on the situation that Red Bull could find themselves in, Webber drew comparison with MotoGP rider Marc Marquez, who won six World Championships with Honda before departing to join Ducati.
“We’re looking at two or three-tenths per sector [as the gap between Verstappen and Lawson], and that’s just completely unacceptable,” said Webber. “It’s like Marc Marquez when he left Honda; Marc Marquez engineered his way into riding this motorcycle over years – and on motorbikes, if you’re uncomfortable or something happens, you can injure yourself.
“If Liam Lawson was the equivalent on a Honda now, he’d probably be injured because he couldn’t find the speed – he’d be down the road. So when Marquez leaves Honda, no one can ride the bike.
“That’s the interesting thing also with Max – who knows how long he stays at Red Bull, he might be there for another three or four years – but the team also have to get this car useable for not just one person on the planet.”
Verstappen – who is contracted to race for the team through to the end of 2028 – has scored all of Red Bull’s 36 points in the Teams’ Championship so far, putting them in third place behind McLaren and Mercedes.
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