The Red Bull Curse? What Yuki Tsunoda Can Learn From His Predecessors

Yuki Tsunoda will become Max Verstappen’s fifth teammate in six years this weekend when he makes hid Red Bull debut at his home Grand Prix in Japan.

The Racing Bull driver will replace his former teammate Liam Lawson, who was axed by Red Bull just two races into the season after replacing Sergio Perez in the summer.

Lawson, who will return to Racing Bull – Red Bull’s junior team – is the latest driver to find the task of partnering Verstappen a nigh-on impossible task.

From Daniel Ricciardo to Sergio Perez and Pierre Gasly, the Dutchman’s teammates have all proved to be fast and talented drivers in their own right, but none of them has been able to keep up with the finest driver of his generation.

Some like Perez lasted for four years, others like Liam Dawson were chewed and spat out after two races.

Can Tsunoda, who has been waiting in the wings for the best part of the last five years, exorcise the No2 curse at Red Bull? Here is how his predecessors fared on debut for Red Bull and during their spells with the Milton Keynes-based team.

Pierre Gasly – 2019 Australian Grand Prix

Following Daniel Ricciardo’s surprising and ultimately ill-advised defection to Renault, Red Bull was left with an unexpected vacant seat ahead of the 2019 season.

Pierre Gasly was fast-tracked from Toro Rosso – as Red Bull’s junior team was then known – to partner Max Verstappen.

It is fair to say things did not turn out as Red Bull had hoped. Gasly crashed into the tyre wall during tests in Barcelona and was eliminated in Q1 on his debut in the Australian Grand Prix.

The Frenchman finished the race 11th as Verstappen took second place, but then scored points in eight of his next nine starts.

A positive run ended in Germany, where Gasly crashed heavily in qualifying to destroy a brand new chassis and then was forced to retire.

After Gasly finished sixth in Hungary before the summer break, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner insisted there were no plans to replace the Frenchman, but urged him to “get it together” as he “desperately needed” to improve.

Horner’s patience did not last and Gasly was gone by the time the season resumed in Belgium.

Alexander Albon – 2019 Belgian Grand Prix

Albon and Gasly swapped seats for the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix, with the Thai driver replacing the Frenchman at Red Bull.

On his first start, Albon brushed off a grid penalty resulting from a power unit issue which forced him to start in 17th at Spa to finish fifth.

He scored points in six the seven remaining races, with the high watermark coming at Suzuka, where he matched Verstappen’s time in qualifying before finishing fourth.

The following season, Albon scoed points in six of the opening seven races before securing a maiden podium at Mugello and in Bahrain to finish seventh in the drivers’ standings.

That was not enough for the Thai to preserve his seat with Sergio Perez waiting in the wings for 2021 as he was demoted to reserve driver.

Sergio Perez – 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix

The Mexican’s debut for Red Bull threatened to turn into a nightmare, when his medium tyre gamble backfired and he was eliminated in Q2 on the opening weekend in Bahrain.

The predicament got even worse the following day, when Perez’s RB16 stopped on the formation lap and he was forced to start from the pit-lane.

But then came redemption for the Mexican, who drove a brilliant race to finish fifth as Verstappen came second after starting from pole-position.

After a disappointing 11th in Imola, Perez picked up points in the next three races and then secured the second win of his career as he triumphed in Azerbaijan.

He followed it up with third place in France two weeks later and three more podiums over the course of the season.

His most significant contribution, however, came in the season finale in Abu Dhabi where he held up Lewis Hamilton to allow Verstappen to catch up the Mercedes ahead of the most controversial final three laps in Formula 1 history.

Perez won in Monaco and Singapore in 2022 and claimed nine more podium finishes to end the year third in the drivers’ standings as Verstappen defended his title and came second the following year.

But the gap between him and the Dutchman grew into a chasm with Perez winning two of the opening four races, only for his teammate to take the chequered flag in 17 of the next 18.

The longest-serving among Verstappen’s teammates at Red Bull, Perez’s adventure with the team eventually ended after a dismal 2024.

Despite four podium finishes in the first five races, the Mexican’s form nosedived after he signed a new contract extension in May and culminated in an eighth-place championship finish – his worst since joining Red Bull.

While Perez endured a nightmare season, Verstappen retained the drivers’ title for the fourth season in a row but it was not enough for Red Bull to defend its constructors’ title.

Liam Lawson – 2025 Australian Grand Prix

From Verstappen’s longest-serving teammate to the who spent the shortest amount of time alongside the four-time world champion.

After replacing Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull’s junior team RB last season, the New Zealander was promoted ahead of teammate Yuki Tsunoda for 2025.

But Lawson looked off the pace in qualifying in Melbourne for the season opener, starting 18th before crashing out in the race as Red Bull gambled to leave him out on dry tyres when rain arrived.

Lawson qualified last for the sprint race in China and was over half-a-second away from progressing to the following session of qualifying, before finishing 14th.

He was again way off the pace in qualifying for the race, again starting from last place on the grid before finishing 12th.

Verstappen, by comparison, finished second in Australia, third in the sprint in Shanghai and fourth in the Grand Prix.

“His performance was unfortunately not good enough and that comes from self-confidence,” Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko told BBC 5 Live when asked to explain the reason behind Lawson’s demotion.

“For the benefit for him, he goes back to Racing Bulls, which has a car capable to be top 10 in qualifying and the race.

“Just look in the past, it was [Pierre] Gasly, it happened the same, also to [Alex] Albon and they recovered and they are now competitive Formula 1 drivers.”