James Hinchcliffe highly praised the work of Lawson and Tsunoda.

      A former IndyCar driver, now collaborating with the official website of the World Championship as an expert, writes that following the recent Dutch Grand Prix, he is primarily ready to highlight the work of Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda. For both, the Dutch weekend was associated with additional challenges, as Lawson was set to drive the Red Bull Racing car for the first time this season, replacing the injured Isaac Hajar, while the Japanese reserve driver was entrusted with taking Liam's place in Racing Bulls. According to Hinchcliffe, both performed excellently...

      Both drivers had the opportunity to return to the teams they previously raced for and participate in another Grand Prix for them. When such substitutions occur mid-season, complications are always inevitable, and both Red Bull drivers know this all too well. But how did they perform this time?

      Let's start with Lawson. His previous experience with Red Bull Racing was brief and caused the young New Zealander quite a bit of distress. That failure was explained by many quite valid reasons, but in Zandvoort, Liam got a chance to correct a number of mistakes he made at the beginning of the 2025 season. The task for both drivers was further complicated by the fact that the Dutch Grand Prix included a sprint. After a single hour of practice, Lawson needed to quickly adapt to the RB22, and it certainly helped that he knows this team. As he later admitted, since he didn't need to study the features of the power unit, this was also an important factor and helped a lot.

      The sessions held during the day on Friday and the morning on Saturday were perceived more as additional practice, allowing him to better prepare for the main qualifying session of the weekend and the Sunday Grand Prix, and he did not strive to show the maximum possible result. However, in Saturday's qualifying, Liam made an excellent impression, finishing the first part just one-tenth behind Max Verstappen. In the second qualifying session, the gap increased to almost half a second, but in the final, Lawson again reduced it to one-tenth and started alongside the four-time world champion from 8th position.

      Thus, on a track where Red Bull was not known for high speed, Lawson was able to extract almost everything the RB22 was capable of. He drove the race calmly, avoiding troubles, which unfortunately Verstappen could not do, finishing 7th and earning the maximum points the team could hope for. But what impressed me the most was his ability to get so close to Max in qualifying – the gap was less than what Isaac Hajar typically allowed throughout the season. I agree that it should be noted that the characteristics of the Dutch track configuration may have contributed to this, but overall, Liam performed very well, especially since he had something to prove.

      Yuki Tsunoda was set to return to the starting grid for the first time since last year's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. His task was significantly more challenging, as he had not driven a new generation car in competitive conditions and was only familiar with it from the simulator, and not even with the VCARB 03, but with the RB22. Despite all the difficulties, Yuki, like Lawson, focused on preparing for the main qualifying session of the weekend and performed quite decently in the task set before him. He finished just one-tenth behind Arvid Lindblad, a talented British rookie from Racing Bulls, who made it to the final session for the fifth consecutive time.

      Tsunoda proved that he maintained excellent racing form, which is very difficult when there is no opportunity to drive a real car on a real track; he did not lose any skill or former aggressiveness, making impressive overtakes, even though the Zandvoort track is known for being difficult to overtake on. The Japanese driver finished 11th, and he was just a little short of the points-paying top ten – he proved that he is still capable of competing at the highest level and driving new generation cars. If he has any chance of returning to the World Championship, the race in Zandvoort will surely increase the likelihood that he may receive some offer during the offseason.

      And yet, I am surprised why Red Bull did not trust Tsunoda to replace Hajar, as Yuki raced for Red Bull Racing in 2025 and this year drove the RB22 in the simulator. After all, then it would have been only him who would have had to adapt to the new equipment during the past weekend, not two drivers. Of course, I wish Hajar a speedy recovery, but deep down, I hope that Lawson and Tsunoda will have another chance in Monza, which would allow them to consolidate the experience gained in Zandvoort. In any case, both can rightfully be proud of how they handled their tasks at the Dutch Grand Prix.