The Bahrain Grand Prix marked the first time both Red Bull drivers scored points in the same race this season.
Reigning World Drivers’ Champion Max Verstappen finished sixth and scored eight points while teammate Yuki Tsunoda finished ninth with two.
The finishes for Red Bull were overshadowed by the challenges the team faced during the race, though.
Verstappen and Tsunoda were impeded by electrical issues during pitstops and both drivers struggled with tire management on the abrasive track in Bahrain.
Red Bull currently sits third place in the Constructors’ Championship, 80 points behind McLaren.
The team’s recent performance is a far cry from the dominance Red Bull and Verstappen are used to. It feels like Red Bull is starting to get desperate for any source of improvement.
On March 27, the team demoted driver Liam Lawson to Visa Cash App Racing Bulls and promoted Yuki Tsunoda just two races into the season.
Lawson’s performance in the Red Bull was underwhelming, to say the least.
The New Zealander crashed out of the first race of the season in Australia and finished outside of the points in both the sprint and race in China.
However, two races is not enough time to truly gauge a performance.
Lawson is still a rookie driving in his first full Formula 1 season. He deserves to be given more time with the car.
On the other hand, many people, myself included, believe Tsunodna should have been in the second Red Bull seat from the start of the season.
Tsunoda has certainly paid his dues, spending 89 races with VCARB before his promotion.
Two races in with Red Bull and Tsunoda has already scored two points. That doesn’t mean Lawson deserved a premature demotion or Red Bull made the “right choice” though.
Both drivers deserve a fair shot in the Red Bull seat.
It’s no secret that the Red Bull car is built around Max Verstappen. This one-driver, all-in approach may be Red Bull’s Achilles’ heel.
The balance of the Red Bull car is shifted towards the front axle, which makes the car more sensitive to steering and harder to control.
Despite the car being designed with Verstappen’s preferences in mind, he has been complaining about balance issues with the car since last summer.
It’s no surprise that Verstappen’s teammates are struggling when Verstappen himself is fighting with the car.
Tsunoda may perform better than Lawson, but that will not fix the problem.
Red Bull needs to start at the root of the issue — the car.
Team principal Christian Horner said the team’s priority is to get Verstappen the Drivers’ Championship.
Not only is this title on the line, the opportunity to tie a major F1 record is as well.
If Verstappen wins the championship, he would match Michael Schumacher’s record for most consecutive championship titles at five.
Verstappen can’t do either of those with an “undriveable” car.
Red Bull’s struggles have led to growing concern that Verstappen may want to leave the team at the end of the season, and Verstappen has performance clauses that would allow him to leave Red Bull before his contract expires in 2028.
Without Verstappen, the team will need to scrap the car and design one that fits a new driver line-up, which takes a lot of time and money.
Red Bull needs to confront the truth. They should not — and cannot — continue tailoring their car exclusively to Verstappen.
