Christian Horner defended Yuki Tsunoda after he failed to score points on his Red Bull debut at the Japanese Grand Prix. After securing a shock pole at Suzuka, Max Verstappen held off the challenge of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to claim his first win of the Formula 1 season.

SUZUKA, Japan — 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.

It is a decision that took Red Bull just two races to reverse. The team announced Thursday morning that Tsunoda would be swapping seats with Lawson with immediate effect for April