How Brazil showed Red Bull's No. 2 driver problems will continue

Red Bull’s weekend did not get off to a strong start as Verstappen qualified sixth and finished fourth in the sprint.

Although not terrible, it was still a few places below where he would have wanted to be and to keep his title hopes alive.

His teammate Tsunoda was placed on a different set-up, with a higher downforce rear wing, which proved ineffective for the Japanese driver, who qualified P18 and finished P13.

After Tsunoda qualified P18 in the Sprint, Red Bull decided to change the car specification with a different under-floor and overall set-up, breaking parc ferme rules.

The team bizarrely chose the same set-up for Verstappen, making the car slower and eliminating him in Q1 without a car issue for the first time in his career.

The horrendous qualifying result meant that Red Bull had no choice but to break parc ferme rules again before the start of the grand prix.

Verstappen's car got a new power unit and was reverted to something closer to the original set-up, as they had done work in the simulator overnight.

Going back to old ideas worked for Verstappen, who, together with his flawless performance, was able to finish third.

This whole weekend for Red Bull shows the problem of having an underperforming No. 2 driver.

Red Bull is not looking for a driver to beat Verstappen; the team needs a driver who can run consistently in the points to give useful feedback when testing new parts.

Just like every other Red Bull No. 2 driver in the past several years, Tsunoda is driving for his career and without confidence.

This can lead to overdriving to find the laptime and making mistakes, but also being too tentative and slow.

Next season, with the new regulations, this problem will undoubtedly become more crucial due to the development teams will need to make on their cars throughout the season.

Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar looks likely to join Verstappen next year, but this will not help their situation if he does.

He has had an impressive start to his F1 career, but his lack of experience makes it a risk for Red Bull to give the useful feedback its engineers need.

Whatever Red Bull decides to do for 2026 will be a difficult one to foresee success due to the enormous pressure the No. 2 driver is under to perform.

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