The young New Zealander has this weekend returned to Racing Bulls following a two-event stint with Red Bull.
He was promoted as the replacement for Sergio Perez after the Mexican endured a dismal 2024.
However Lawson struggled in both the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix, promoting Red Bull bosses to swap him out for Yuki Tsunoda.
It’s a move Tost, who headed the Racing Bulls operation through its various guises from 2005 until the end of 2023, admits he would have made in the first place.
“I would have gone with Yuki Tsunoda from the start,” the told Austrian broadcaster ORF.
“I said that already – I made it clear last autumn. Why? Yuki is much faster than Lawson.
“You could give Lawson 100 years, and he still wouldn’t be as fast as Yuki. And Yuki is more experienced, so what’s the issue? It’s a very simple decision.”
Lawson got the nod over Tsunoda at the end of last year after showing well against the more experienced Japanese driver.
Though Tsunoda was faster, that Lawson was so close suggested the New Zealander offered greater potential.
That may still prove the case, but that development now looks likely to happen at Racing Bulls.
Having been promoted in place of Lawson for this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, Tsunoda put in a promising account of himself during Free Practice 1 on Friday.
“It’s definitely a confirmation that the right call was made,” reasoned Tost, who headed the team (then known as AlphaTauri) when Tsunoda joined in 2021.
“Yuki has incredible natural speed – I’ve been saying that for years – now, he just needs to put it all together properly.
“He’s still too emotional in the car at times, and maybe that was one of the reasons they didn’t pick him over Lawson in the first place.
“But in terms of raw pace, Yuki absolutely belongs among the best Formula 1 drivers.
“If he can now translate that into consistency, perform in the races, and keep his emotions more or less in check, then it’s going to be a very, very good season for Red Bull Racing and for Yuki Tsunoda.
“Knowing the track is one thing. Being fast is another.
“The decision to put Yuki in the car now was absolutely right, because Liam is simply too slow.”
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