Japanese Grand Prix: Max Verstappen says his social media response to Liam Lawson demotion ‘speaks for itself’

Lawson struggled to come to terms with the wayward handling of the Red Bull car.

He qualified 18th for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, and last for both the sprint and main grand prix in China, and failed to make significant progress in any of the races.

Red Bull demoted him because they felt he was in a spiral from which he could not recover.

Verstappen explained the characteristics that had led Lawson to struggle.

“It’s hard because, I mean, for me, this is the only car that I know, right?” Verstappen said.

“But I think from what I see out there, it is a little bit more nervous, a little bit more, I would say, unstable in different corner phases, maybe. Well, maybe [than] some other of my team-mates have been used to before.

“Some bits, of course, are clearly faster than where they came from, but to just piece it all together probably is a bit harder.”

Tsunoda said he was in the “best situation ever” to be making his debut for Red Bull at this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.

“Really looking forward to it,” he said. “Can’t be crazier than this – first race for Red Bull Racing, but on top of it, home grand prix.”

Asked about Red Bull’s ruthless handling of Lawson, Tsunoda said: “For me at least it was brutal enough when they chose Liam over me at the end of last season.

“We understand, I’m sure Liam understands, how situations can quickly change within our structure.”

Tsunoda said he had driven the Red Bull in the simulator and was confident he could make a strong impression.

“I felt the car in simulator,” he said. “I am sure it doesn’t fully correlate but it didn’t feel crazy tricky.”

Tsunoda said he had “big confidence” that he could do a good job.

He added: “I am not saying I have confidence to perform straight away like Max, but I have confidence I can do something different from other drivers who have been in that car.

“If I did not have confidence, I might as well stay in Racing Bulls. But I want to have a challenge.”