Helmut Marko has pointed to Liam Lawson's perceived mental strength as the reason he beat Yuki Tsunoda to promotion to Red Bull for 2025. New Zealander Lawson was given the nod to partner Max Verstappen after Sergio Perez was removed following a dismal 2024 campaign, with Tsunoda set to continue with RB for a fifth season next term. The job of being Verstappen's team-mate is regarded by Red Bull boss Christian Horner as the hardest in F1, with motorsport advisor Marko indicating that Lawson's mental toughness was an overwhelming factor in the decision to promote him and not Japanese racer Tsunoda. "The engineers presented comparative figures, which we used as the basis for the decision," Marko told F1Insider. "In principle, it was a luxury problem, both would have deserved the promotion, but Lawson may have more room for improvement in the future. "It was his mental strength in particular that tipped the scales in the end." When asked how Tsunoda had taken the news of the snub, Marko described how he was "relaxed". "He's in Japan at the moment and I spoke to him on the phone, he was relatively relaxed about the news," he added. "I told him that he should continue to step on the gas with Racing Bulls and then we'll see. He reacted positively."
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