Red Bulls Yuki Tsunoda was just one tenth behind Max Verstappen in the most representative practice session on Friday in Japan but was not fully satisfied; watch final practice on Saturday from 3.30am before qualifying at 7am,

Red Bull new recruit Yuki Tsunoda has been told to get as close to his world champion teammate Max Verstappen as possible at the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend and he certainly delivered in the first practice session on Friday.

Barely three months ago, Yuki Tsunoda’s window to drive for Red Bull Racing in Formula One appeared to have closed. Despite putting forward a strong case through the 2024 season for its sister team, RB, Red Bull passed over Tsunoda when replacing Sergio Pérez. Instead, it promoted Tsunoda’s teammate Liam Lawson into the seat.

Liam Lawson said he was surprised at being demoted by the Red Bull team after only two races of the new season but remained determined to make his mark in Formula One with the junior Racing Bulls team.

Yuki Tsunoda finally has his promotion at Red Bull. That was difficult enough, elevated to the top team last week as Liam Lawson was demoted to Red Bull’s No. 2 Formula 1 team — Racing Bulls — after failing to score points in the season’s first two races.

Yuki Tsunoda makes his Red Bull debut at his home grand prix in Japan this weekend after Liam Lawson was demoted, so what is it like to come in as a replacement driver?

Eleanor Oldroyd, BBC F1’s Jennie Gow and former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley look ahead to the Japanese Grand Prix. The team also discuss Red Bull’s latest driver swap, where Yuki Tsunoda replaces Liam Lawson just two races into the season.

Liam Lawson opened up on the way he was informed about his Red Bull demotion over a phone call, effective from the Japanese GP.

Max Verstappen says it "was not a mistake" that he liked a comment on social media criticising Red Bull's decision to demote Liam Lawson.