The Verstappen team-mate problem: Have Red Bull dug themselves a hole?

Being Max Verstappen's team-mate has been an issue for the last six years but Liam Lawson's shock demotion after just two races is extreme, even by Red Bull standards.

Yuki Tsunoda will become the latest driver to step into what almost everyone sees as the toughest seat in F1 while Lawson returns to Racing Bulls, where the hope is he will re-discover some confidence.

Lawson was chosen as Sergio Perez's successor over the winter after the Mexican's own struggles in the car had a major impact on Red Bull failing to retain the Constructors' Championship.

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Although Perez spent four seasons at Red Bull, he was not exactly close to Verstappen on a consistent basis throughout that period. Prior to that, Alex Albon lasted just 18 months and Pierre Gasly half a season.

It leads to the question of why is it so difficult to be Verstappen's team-mate?

Verstappen's unique driving style

One theory behind the struggles of Verstappen's team-mates is that Red Bull design and set up a car that plays into the four-time world champion's driving style.

In short, some drivers prefer a car with more understeer and some prefer more oversteer. Verstappen is in the latter category but he also likes the car to turn in hard during the cornering phase.

A perfect racing car would have no oversteer or understeer, but an F1 car will generally have one or the other, or sometimes both.

"I like a pointy car but with a rear that is just stable enough to have a controlled balance," said Verstappen on his driving style.

"I like a strong front end. I don't really like understeer. It's just killing the whole feel of the car. A strong front end with a rear that is just on the edge. But of course you still need that rear to rely on."

Albon was Verstappen's team-mate for the last part of 2019 and the entire 2020 season. While Verstappen tried his best to challenge the mighty Mercedes, Albon was battling to reach Q3 and regularly had to come through the field to score points.

Speaking on the High Performance Podcast in 2023, Albon used the comparison of a computer game to help people understand what he dealt with at Red Bull in terms of driving.

"The first thing is, a lot of people say that car is built around him, he's kind of like the Michael Schumacher of Ferrari, he's created this team around him," explained Albon.

"Truthfully, the car is what it is, he is very quick. He has quite a unique driving style, it's not that easy to get along with.

"Everyone has a driving style, I would say my driving style is a bit more on the smooth side, but I like a car that has a good front-end, so quite sharp, quite direct. Max does too, but his level of sharp and direct is a whole different level - it's eye-wateringly sharp.

"To give people kind of maybe an explanation of what that might feel like, if you bump up the sensitivity [on a computer game] completely to the max and you move that mouse and it's just darting across the screen everywhere, that's kind of how it feels. It becomes so sharp that it makes you a little bit tense."

So are Red Bull designing a car in that way?

Verstappen has been at Red Bull since 2016 and after a few seasons, he has rarely been off the pace and not the leading driver in terms of outright performance.

After several crashes and spins in the first part of 2018, Verstappen had the upper hand on Daniel Ricciardo for the remainder of that year.

Since the start of 2019, the Dutchman has only been outqualified 12 times by Gasly (once), Albon (once) and Perez (10) - several of those occasions can be attributed to misfortune, team errors or tactical choices due to grid penalties. So throughout all the regulation changes and car designs over this period, have Red Bull really been favouring Verstappen?

"You always go for ultimate performance," Red Bull team principal Christian Horner told Sky Sports F1 during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend.

"Fast cars are never easy to drive but we know there's performance we need to find and we need both drivers up there if there's to be any chance of fighting for a Constructors' Championship, and at the very least the Drivers' Championship you need to have a second car in play. You can't do it one-legged."

Pushed further, Horner interestingly said: "He [Verstappen] is constantly asking for more and more front of the car and you will always follow the direction of your faster driver and that leads the organisation in terms of its development."

Despite this admission from Horner, Verstappen has not exactly been happy with the Red Bull car for nearly 12 months now since McLaren began to win races last year.

He has visibly been sawing at the wheel or having a few stabs at turning the car where he wants in corners, so it is hard to say this year's Red Bull, for example, suits him. The difference is, his exceptional talent can get the most from his machinery, even if it is not to his liking.

No confidence, big problem

F1 drivers will make hundreds of decisions over a racing lap and every single one of those matters for performance.

When do you brake? How much do you brake? When do you turn the car? How much do you turn the car? What line do you take in a corner? How hard and when do you get on the throttle? All of this happens in a matter of seconds and during a race, you are doing this while going side by side.

If there's any sense of caution or lack of trust with the car, then you are in trouble and the pressure only ramps up when driving for a top team like Red Bull.

"Lawson was seven tenths off Verstappen in Q1 in China and Verstappen was third, he was 20th," said Sky Sports F1's Martin Brundle, who experienced the challenge of being team-mates with a young Michael Schumacher at Benetton in the 1992.

"You think, 'well that's half a tenth per corner, that's doable', but it's not. It's so hard to find. It's a fundamental shift you need to find seven tenths of a second."

A recent pattern at Red Bull saw Perez relatively close to the pace of Verstappen in the early stages of 2023 and 2024. However, as the season went on, the gap between the Red Bull pair grew and Albon has suggested this is due to the car being developed for Verstappen, which is faster, but more difficult to drive.

"What ended up happening was, especially during my year, you start off being a little bit behind, but not by much, and then as the season goes on, Max wants this front-end in the car, he wants his car to be sharper, sharper," he explained.

"As it goes sharper and sharper, he goes quicker and quicker, and for you to catch up you have to start taking a little bit more risk. You might be a couple of tenths behind one session, just try a little bit more, 'OK, I've gone off, I've had a crash', and you've got to restart.

"Then you've lost a little bit of confidence, it takes a little bit more time, that gap is growing a little bit, and the next time you try and go out and do another job, another spin or another whatever - it just starts to snowball. Every time the car becomes sharper and sharper, you start to become more tense.

"It's like any sport, if you start to not be in that flow state, and you're having to really think about it, and every time you go into a corner, you don't know how it's going to react. It's purely the confidence in the car, the flow. It doesn't work, it never works."

Is Verstappen just too good?

For all this talk about driving styles and developing a car for Verstappen, there's no question that a significant factor is the four-time world champion is exceptional.

Sky Sports F1's Nico Rosberg says Verstappen was the best driver he raced against and puts him among the greatest five F1 drivers of all-time along with Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna, Lewis Hamilton and Juan Manuel Fangio.

Verstappen is at the peak of his powers and demonstrated that in 2024 when he arguably won the title without the best car, with two races to spare too.

It is possible that most of the grid would struggle to match Verstappen in the same car, such is his quality.

"He's a phenomenal talent. The ability he has, you see it time and time again," said Horner.

"It's always in hindsight that you look back. We know how good Max is. I think the rest of the world is starting to appreciate just how special he is."

Formula 1 heads to the iconic Suzuka Circuit for the Japanese Grand Prix on April 4-6, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - No contract, cancel anytime