How Alex Dunne’s McLaren outing reveals Pink Bull that altering drivers is not the answer

Yuki Tsunoda now has 9 grands prix underneath his belt with Pink Bull, after taking on Liam Lawson’s Components 1 seat from the Japanese Grand Prix.

The affect has been negligible to this point. Tsunoda has scored simply seven factors in that point, whereas team-mate Max Verstappen has racked up 119. Tsunoda’s latest qualifying outcomes don’t paint a greater image both. Together with penalties, the Japanese driver has began the previous 5 races from grid positions of twentieth, twelfth, nineteenth, 18th, and once more 18th.

Usually, such outcomes would ramp up the strain, however this time the scenario at Pink Bull is completely different. If the previous six months have proven something, it’s that the core situation doesn’t lie with the drivers. Sergio Perez couldn’t ship final yr (and now claims the group regrets letting him go), Liam Lawson did not make an affect within the restricted time he was given, and Tsunoda is now in the identical boat. The issue is structural — therefore group advisor Helmut Marko’s repeated insistence that the Japanese driver will end the season at Pink Bull.

One would possibly even cynically say that Tsunoda’s efficiency barely issues — so long as he avoids costly crashes. With the fee cap in place and 2026 looming, harm repairs eat into the event finances. However, from a sporting perspective, Pink Bull appears headed for P4 within the constructors’ championship regardless of who occupies the second seat.

There are not any apparent options both: Isack Hadjar has admitted that he doesn’t but really feel prepared, and it will be unwise for Pink Bull to as soon as once more prematurely derail the profession of a younger expertise. Lawson has already had a shot, and Arvid Lindblad is a longer-term challenge, with Racing Bulls meant to be the pure stepping stone. Realistically, there are not any speedy substitutes.

That’s why Pink Bull’s group leaders are responding with extra measured language this time, even after Tsunoda completed final of the labeled drivers within the Austrian GP. With one Pink Bull, one Mercedes, and each Williams automobiles out of the race, failing to attain even a single level was extraordinarily painful, but Horner caught to a factual breakdown in his post-race media session: “Yuki had a horrible race, once more it began to go improper for him in Q1. His first run in Q1 was superb, however within the second run he made a mistake at Flip 1, then certified badly, then was working in site visitors, unable to move, picks up a penalty, and it simply compounds issues.”

“We’ll look to see how we are able to help him, however there is a massive delta between the 2 automobiles, and naturally internally we ask all of these questions,” Horner added in Pink Bull’s hospitality space. “Clearly the automobile has advanced over years in a particular path, however we’ll see if we can assist Yuki and rebuild his confidence in Silverstone.” It is completely different from the strain campaigns Pink Bull and Marko have used prior to now, however given the dearth of options, it is sensible.

Dunne’s FP1 session was one other eye-opener

If Pink Bull has discovered one factor in latest months, it’s that the issue lies with the automobile — not the drivers. Verstappen stated as a lot in a Dutch media session weeks in the past, defending Tsunoda: “Yuki is just not a pancake, proper?” – utilizing the Dutch phrase ‘pannenkoek’, which is slang for somebody who’s hopeless or fully incompetent. “When he was in Racing Bulls, he all the time appeared good in comparison with Hadjar. And this drawback has been happening for a very long time. Possibly that is additionally an indication.” When requested what it says, he replied: “You’ll be able to reply that your self.”

In the course of the Spielberg weekend, Pink Bull obtained one other “signal” — this time outdoors its personal storage. Components 2 driver Alex Dunne accomplished his first-ever F1 follow session with McLaren — and completed fourth, simply two tenths off the quickest time. Positive, questions stay about gas masses and engine modes, and people could have been extra beneficial to Dunne — however Pink Bull nonetheless drew a transparent conclusion.

When Motorsport.com sat down with Marko to speak about Pink Bull’s second-seat headache, the Austrian admitted he had seen Dunne’s onboard footage. “He had a couple of little moments right here and there, however when the McLaren has a small slide, the automobile nearly corrects itself,” he stated. “With us, it’s all the time a tightrope stroll — continually balancing between going off or barely holding the automobile on the monitor.”

Marko pointed to FP3 on the Pink Bull Ring, the place each Pink Bull drivers spun, and even a small second for Verstappen led to a full 360-degree rotation. In line with Marko, Verstappen is the one one who can nonetheless handle it, however Pink Bull’s management is aware of the story is totally completely different for anybody else within the second seat.

Dunne’s FP1 look confirmed Marko simply how way more “plug-and-play” the McLaren automobile is for a rookie driver in comparison with the RB21, which is all the time “on a knife edge”. Compounding that is the truth that the leap from Racing Bulls to Pink Bull is gigantic. The Racing Bulls automobile has a large working window and is forgiving to drive. In line with the drivers, it’s one of many best automobiles on the grid, whereas the Pink Bull is at the exact opposite finish of the spectrum.

Yuki Tsunoda, Pink Bull Racing Crew 

Picture by: Pink Bull Content material Pool

The distinction couldn’t be starker, as Alex Albon defined just lately: “It is also troublesome as a result of – possibly it is my very own interpretation of it – however the RB is kind of a forgiving automobile. It is fairly well-balanced, it’s extremely secure, it provides you loads of confidence. I believe it is naturally change into that form of automobile as a result of they all the time have rookies in that automobile. So the foundations of the group is constructed on younger drivers. After which the Pink Bull is nearly [the other] excessive. You are going from one of many automobiles that’s most forgiving to the trickiest. And so that you’re having to adapt rather a lot to 2 very completely different automobiles.”

And that adaptation — mixed with going through a team-mate like Verstappen — has confirmed an excessive amount of for everybody since Daniel Ricciardo. Pierre Gasly, Albon, Perez, Lawson, and Tsunoda have all struggled. Pink Bull may add one other title to that checklist, however the group leaders perceive that doing so can be pointless. The automobile is the issue and, paradoxically, the Spielberg weekend — together with Dunne’s run within the McLaren — made that clearer than ever.

It additionally underlines how dependent Pink Bull at the moment is on Verstappen — and the way regarding issues may get if the Dutchman actually does depart. The image the Austrian GP has painted of a Pink Bull group with out Verstappen appeared removed from fairly…