– Have good performances in Formula 1 become easier with the new cars? At least Max Verstappen believes so and points to the recent appearances of Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda in unfamiliar cars.
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“No offense, and I hope no one takes this the wrong way, but look at Yuki. He gets into the car, has never driven the car before, and is immediately competitive,” says the four-time world champion to the BBC.
“Liam switches from Racing Bulls to Red Bull – and is immediately competitive. That’s because these cars are completely unresponsive to driver inputs,” is the Dutchman’s verdict.
“Of course, you still have to nail a good lap. And you still have to push yourself. The fastest drivers will always be at the top in the end. But the margin is extremely limited, like in a chokehold. You are constantly being held back,” he says.
Lawson secured a strong seventh place in Zandvoort but had a trickier weekend in Italy. Tsunoda, on the other hand, scored points in Monza after narrowly missing the top 10 in the Netherlands.
There were strong substitute drivers in the past as well
It should be noted, however, that both Lawson and Tsunoda were beaten by their respective teammates in all three qualifying sessions in Zandvoort and Monza. Moreover, throughout all eras of Formula 1, there have always been examples of substitute drivers who achieved impressive results right away.
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To name just a few: Nico Hülkenberg qualified third for Racing Point at the 2020 Silverstone anniversary Grand Prix – in a year when George Russell narrowly missed victory in his first race in the Silver Arrow at the second Bahrain race.
Looking further back to the pre-hybrid era, Sebastian Vettel scored a point in his Formula 1 debut with BMW in 2007, while rookie Robert Kubica took only three races to reach the podium when he replaced Jacques Villeneuve mid-season in 2006 for the same team.
Tsunoda: “That’s his opinion …”
The year before, Alexander Wurz finished third in Imola – in the only race he contested in 2005.
Tsunoda himself does not think much of his former teammate’s statements: “That’s his opinion, so… I don’t know either,” the Japanese said in Madrid when asked about Verstappen’s words. “Honestly, I just read it. That’s all.”
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“It is definitely a different car. Of course, the energy deployment and such things are different. It’s obviously part of it that you can’t go full throttle in some corners anymore. I experienced that myself in Monza,” he says.
Photo gallery: The latest substitute driver appearances in Formula 1
Tsunoda emphasizes that he does not relate Verstappen’s statements to his results or performances in the two races for Racing Bulls. “I think it’s a very individual matter. I think I did a good job, and that’s the only thing that counts,” says the substitute driver for Lawson, who is allowed to replace Hadjar at Red Bull due to a wrist injury.
But what’s behind it? Can drivers really hardly make a difference anymore? The intra-team gaps of the 2026 generation have indeed become slightly smaller compared to the previous year, but that does not prevent noticeable differences from one driver to another in qualifying.
Since the April break, Lance Stroll at Aston Martin has been on average 0.300 seconds behind Fernando Alonso. Even at the top teams, Isack Hadjar was 0.196 seconds behind Verstappen and Russell 0.130 seconds behind Kimi Antonelli. So it is definitely possible to make a difference – just not in the same way anymore.
Why Verstappen is staying in F1 after all
The balance of power units will shift from 47 to 42 percent electric energy next year and drop to 40 percent by 2028. This is likely to appease Verstappen, who had previously hinted several times that he might leave Formula 1 out of frustration with the current regulations.
When asked what convinced him to extend his stay in the top class, the Dutchman said: “The hope that it will get better in the future. Accepting the current situation. And still the love for the sport. At the moment not the love for driving, but the love for the sport itself.”
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“Of course, I love the competition. I just hope that in the coming years towards 2030 it can only get better. And that we try to make the best of it, because those are the rules for the next four or five years,” says the Red Bull driver.
Regarding the engine formula that Verstappen would like to see in the early 2030s, his stance is quite simple: “It has to go back to the V8 – if only because of drivability.”
“When you drive the old cars, you can’t even imagine the difference in engine feedback or drivability you get. And how terrible or awful it feels now compared to a simple V8.”
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