Helmut Marko: “For Adrian Newey, Yuki Tsunoda was a red flag”
Speaking of Liam Lawson: The New Zealander joined the Racing Bulls team after just two race weekends, while Yuki Tsunoda was promoted. Why didn't you choose this lineup last year?
For a long time, Yuki had the image of not performing consistently and making silly mistakes here and there. That's what happened last year in Mexico, where the decisive phase for us began. With Lawson, it was the exact opposite at first: he came on and delivered straight away, no matter how great the pressure was. In retrospect, however, it wasn't the right decision. In general, however, a lot can be traced back to a single incident. [In Silverstone 2022], Tsunoda drove into Pierre Gasly's car, and parts of the cars on the track damaged the underbody of Verstappen's car, which cost him the race. Adrian Newey was furious at the time. From that point on, Yuki was a red rag to him. But now Newey is gone, and Yuki has worked hard on himself.
In this regard, you repeatedly spoke about the discrepancy between simulation and actual behavior on the track, and the wind tunnel was also a recurring topic. What is the current situation?
Our existing wind tunnel is a relic from the 1940s and was built by the military. Although it has been adapted several times, it still has the disadvantage of being very long and having exposed concrete pipes. When it's cool or hot outside, it's difficult for us to achieve the necessary temperatures. The new wind tunnel is under construction and is scheduled for completion in 2026. The aforementioned discrepancy was sometimes very confusing last year, so we've been working on it. However, we don't know exactly where the translation error lies.
That sounds childish on Newey's part, if that indeed is true. He is someone that has seen the far more disgusting on track behavior from drivers like Senna, Vettel and Max that all drove his cars. A young Yuki making mistakes makes him a pariah?organic wrote: ↑02 Apr 2025, 12:56https://www.kleinezeitung.at/sport/moto ... rotes-tuch
Helmut Marko: “For Adrian Newey, Yuki Tsunoda was a red flag”Speaking of Liam Lawson: The New Zealander joined the Racing Bulls team after just two race weekends, while Yuki Tsunoda was promoted. Why didn't you choose this lineup last year?
For a long time, Yuki had the image of not performing consistently and making silly mistakes here and there. That's what happened last year in Mexico, where the decisive phase for us began. With Lawson, it was the exact opposite at first: he came on and delivered straight away, no matter how great the pressure was. In retrospect, however, it wasn't the right decision. In general, however, a lot can be traced back to a single incident. [In Silverstone 2022], Tsunoda drove into Pierre Gasly's car, and parts of the cars on the track damaged the underbody of Verstappen's car, which cost him the race. Adrian Newey was furious at the time. From that point on, Yuki was a red rag to him. But now Newey is gone, and Yuki has worked hard on himself.In this regard, you repeatedly spoke about the discrepancy between simulation and actual behavior on the track, and the wind tunnel was also a recurring topic. What is the current situation?
Our existing wind tunnel is a relic from the 1940s and was built by the military. Although it has been adapted several times, it still has the disadvantage of being very long and having exposed concrete pipes. When it's cool or hot outside, it's difficult for us to achieve the necessary temperatures. The new wind tunnel is under construction and is scheduled for completion in 2026. The aforementioned discrepancy was sometimes very confusing last year, so we've been working on it. However, we don't know exactly where the translation error lies.
That's as pathetic an excuse as it can get. Don't know whether it was Newey himself or Marko got the english translation into german wrong (or whether Marko is simply making it up).organic wrote: ↑02 Apr 2025, 12:56In general, however, a lot can be traced back to a single incident. [In Silverstone 2022], Tsunoda drove into Pierre Gasly's car, and parts of the cars on the track damaged the underbody of Verstappen's car, which cost him the race. Adrian Newey was furious at the time. From that point on, Yuki was a red rag to him. But now Newey is gone, and Yuki has worked hard on himself.
Mercedes 2022&2023 vibes.However, we don't know exactly where the translation error lies.
https://www.gpblog.com/nl/nieuws/marko- ... r-de-titelMarko is clear about McLaren’s lead: “They are just like we were in 2023. They have a car that performs in all conditions, in all weathers and on all circuits. In China they dropped the ball for the first time, especially Lando Norris. But at the moment McLaren are the clear favorites with two strong drivers and a strong car.”
So what still needs to happen for Red Bull to challenge McLaren? Marko says: “We need to deliver upgrades quickly that actually work. Of course, they come in groups and if something doesn’t work, we will have to fix it. But to win the world championship, these improvements definitely need to be implemented in the next five races. Otherwise it will be too late.”
It's working. Ten days ago all anyone was talking about was how disastrous Liam Lawson was, now they just want to talk about Marko and Horner being ruthless. Liam has effectively snuck out the back door of a crime scene and no one is looking for him anymore. The media and detractors who were hounding him are now hounding RB management instead. And does anyone here think that Liam would have had a job in this sport after 24 races in the RB21 next to Max, after that start? Now Liam's future is back in his own hands for 22 races.Tvetovnato wrote: ↑02 Apr 2025, 18:52Jeez. So a random event in 2022 prevented them from choosing a driver for 2025 because of someones opinion who is no longer in the team? And they are expecting people to buy that? I also read that they are ”saving Lawson’s career” by being kind enough to let him back into Toro Rosso. Their PR stunts to try to spin this whole mess is almost worse than what they did in the first place.
And note to Yuki: talk AFTER the first few races, and not before. A podium will not happen in any scenario. A top 10 finish will be good.
Well, define ”anyone”. The writers at The Race were pretty unanimous in their verdict that the problem lies in the RB management as soon as the news broke, and not so much in Lawson. Then of course ”fans” on Twitter etc will always go after the driver more, but it is what it is. Nonetheless, whether they succeeded or not, Horner and Marko now realize that the focus is on them, and they try these outright dumb tactics to deflect. The latest from Horner is that it was ”the engineers” that came to him and voiced concerns, so he more or less had to do it, absolving himself partially of the blame or at least dragging others with him. Just own up to the mess that is your driver program instead. Say that yes, it’s not working and we have a big problem to solve. It would give them at least some respect in this situation.Cs98 wrote: ↑02 Apr 2025, 19:25It's working. Ten days ago all anyone was talking about was how disastrous Liam Lawson was, now they just want to talk about Marko and Horner being ruthless. Liam has effectively snuck out the back door of a crime scene and no one is looking for him anymore. The media and detractors who were hounding him are now hounding RB management instead. And does anyone here think that Liam would have had a job in this sport after 24 races in the RB21 next to Max, after that start? Now Liam's future is back in his own hands for 22 races.Tvetovnato wrote: ↑02 Apr 2025, 18:52Jeez. So a random event in 2022 prevented them from choosing a driver for 2025 because of someones opinion who is no longer in the team? And they are expecting people to buy that? I also read that they are ”saving Lawson’s career” by being kind enough to let him back into Toro Rosso. Their PR stunts to try to spin this whole mess is almost worse than what they did in the first place.
And note to Yuki: talk AFTER the first few races, and not before. A podium will not happen in any scenario. A top 10 finish will be good.
Agree on Yuki talking.
The RaceTvetovnato wrote: ↑02 Apr 2025, 20:27Well, define ”anyone”. The writers at The Race were pretty unanimous in their verdict that the problem lies in the RB management as soon as the news broke, and not so much in Lawson. Then of course ”fans” on Twitter etc will always go after the driver more, but it is what it is. Nonetheless, whether they succeeded or not, Horner and Marko now realize that the focus is on them, and they try these outright dumb tactics to deflect. The latest from Horner is that it was ”the engineers” that came to him and voiced concerns, so he more or less had to do it, absolving himself partially of the blame or at least dragging others with him. Just own up to the mess that is your driver program instead. Say that yes, it’s not working and we have a big problem to solve. It would give them at least some respect in this situation.
Yuki can get a podium. It'a not physically impossible. He will fly high or crash and burn.Tvetovnato wrote: ↑02 Apr 2025, 18:52Jeez. So a random event in 2022 prevented them from choosing a driver for 2025 because of someones opinion who is no longer in the team? And they are expecting people to buy that? I also read that they are ”saving Lawson’s career” by being kind enough to let him back into Toro Rosso. Their PR stunts to try to spin this whole mess is almost worse than what they did in the first place.
And note to Yuki: talk AFTER the first few races, and not before. A podium will not happen in any scenario. A top 10 finish will be good.