Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda both stepped into completely new machines and left the Dutch Grand Prix with plenty to be encouraged by.
Lawson returned to Red Bull and brought home a seventh-place finish, while Tsunoda narrowly missed out on points for Racing Bulls after finishing 11th. Considering the difficult conditions and the limited preparation time, both drivers handled the weekend well.
After narrowly missing the final segment of Sprint Qualifying on Friday, Lawson produced a much stronger performance in Saturday’s Qualifying session, ending up just one position and around a tenth of a second behind teammate Max Verstappen.
Sunday presented an immediate challenge, with the damp surface making the opening laps particularly difficult.
He was forced to react quickly when Verstappen crashed ahead of him, successfully avoiding the spinning Red Bull and continuing without damage. With Verstappen out of the race, Lawson became Red Bull’s leading car and eventually crossed the line in seventh.
A 10-second penalty for an infringement under yellow flags was later added to his race time, but the gap to Nico Hülkenberg behind was large enough that his final position remained unchanged.
Given Red Bull’s overall pace across the weekend, seventh was a respectable result and a strong showing from Lawson on his return to the senior team.
Yuki Tsunoda also made a positive impression after returning to Racing Bulls. He dealt well with the difficult opening conditions and gained a place off the start, putting himself into contention around the edge of the points.
As the race unfolded, Tsunoda remained involved in the midfield fight and showed that his racecraft was still sharp.
One of his best moments came with a well-executed move on Pierre Gasly, as he continued to push towards the top 10.
Tsunoda stayed in the hunt for a point until the closing stages but ultimately ran out of time, finishing 11th and just outside the points. Even so, he ended the race ahead of his teammate and showed strong pace throughout the afternoon.
For both Lawson and Tsunoda, Zandvoort provided an opportunity to prove they could quickly adapt and perform when called upon.
