After two miserable race weekends in a row, Red Bull have officially given their ailing driver Liam Lawson the flick, drafting Racing Bulls’ Yuki Tsunoda in for the rest of the 2025 F1 season.
With the entire F1 world already in on the driver swap, all Red Bull had to do was make it official. And on Thursday, they did just that, making Yuki’s switch to the team official with several photos and promotional videos. In their formal statement, Red Bull said experience was the driving factor behind the decision. Finding it too difficult to watch Lawson struggle at the bottom of the grid, the powers that be decided to move him back down to the Racing Bulls team, giving Yuki the call he has been dying to hear.
Ambitious as always, Red Bull hope to retain the Drivers’ Championship and also reclaim the Constructors’ Championship this year with Yuki’s “highly beneficial” experience playing a key role in achieving their lofty goals, they say. Rather than kick the ailing driver to the curb, Red Bull say they have a duty of care to protect and develop Lawson. By racing for their junior team full time, Red Bull say Lawson will gain experience in an environment he “knows very well.” Keep in mind that Red Bull chose Lawson over Yuki to replace Sergio Perez, despite the New Zealander being astronomically less experienced than his former teammate. The choice, as I outlined in a previous article, came down to a matter of character, with Lawson supposedly being better suited to partnering Max Verstappen.
Rumours about Lawson’s sacking were already making their rounds soon after the Chinese Grand Prix, with Yuki Tsunoda tipped to replace the ailing New Zealand driver at Red Bull. Red Bull shareholders reportedly met for crisis talks in Abu Dhabi to discuss the long overdue driver swap, according to Dutch newspaper Del Telegraf, with Honda among them. The Japanese manufacturer, along with another shareholder, made their grievances known to Red Bull, pushing for Tsunoda’s immediate promotion. To help sweeten the deal, Honda reportedly threw $10 million Red Bull’s way ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix in just under a week’s time.
I, for a number of reasons, am cautiously optimistic about the switch.
This dilemma, at least according to your humble reporter, could have all been if Red Bull had chosen the correct driver when they had the chance last year. And that driver is, of course, Yuki Tsunoda. Choosing Lawson over Tsunoda to replace the outgoing Sergio Perez at Red Bull was a truly baffling choice from the drinks manufacturer-turned F1 team. But not an unsurprising one. Lawson has been in the wings for sometime now, serving as Red Bull’s reserve driver since leaving F2. The 22-year-old has even partnered with Tsunoda on some occasions, briefly filling in for Daniel Ricciardo 2023 and taking over his spot after Singapore last year. Despite his run of bad performances in both the Melbourne and Chinese Grand Prix, Lawson is by no means a bad driver. As a rookie, Lawson battled for the DTM championship, losing out in heartbreaking fashion. He also won his maiden Super formula race for Red Bull in Japan, showcasing what a superb talent he is. Lawson, like many drivers before him, is simply a victim of circumstance. But in the cutthroat world of F1, it’s either sink or swim.
In an interview with Sky News after the teams touched down at the Shanghai International Circuit, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said the difference between his two drivers comes down to experience, with Lawson still trying to find his way in the sport. While he has raced in the sport on and and off for the past two years, he still has a lot to learn. Horner went on to his driver even further, saying that he and the team “believe that he’s (Lawson) got the ability, he just needs a little time.” And in perhaps the biggest understatement of the century, Horner says that the seat next to Verstappen is “tough.”
Christian Horner, rather ironically, had this say about giving the next generation a go. “We’ve got a policy of backing youth, of backing young talent, and that’s why we’re giving Liam that opportunity.” Man oh man. It really is a snake pit over there at Red Bull.
Red Bull have let numerous drivers go in the past for failing against Max Verstappen, with Lawson being the latest victim. Pierre Gasly, and to a lesser extent Carlos Sainz, once partnered Verstappen at Red Bull or their junior team. Gasly took over from Daniel Ricciardo in 2019. But the Frenchman wasn’t there for very long, having been unceremoniously demoted back down to Toro Rosso in favour of Alex Albon after just 12 races. While Verstappen finished on the podium a number of times in the opening 12 races, Gasly wasn’t quite as successful, with his best finish of 4th coming at the British Grand Prix. Albon had a similar, if not more consistent, performance in the following nine races, hovering around the 6th place mark. But 2020 was a totally different story, with the Thai driver not finishing any better than 3rd. Verstappen, on the other hand, regularly featured on the podium, with four DNFs and a 6th place in Turkey the only blemishes on an otherwise impressive record. And, as I’m sure you’ve already guessed, the 29-year-old wasn’t there for long either. After a year and a half racing for the team. Albon was let go in favour of Sergio Perez for the 2021 season. Like every driver before, and also after him, Albon was overshadowed by the future champion’s skill. Since Daniel Ricciardo left in 2018, all of Verstappen’s teammates have struggled in the second seat at Red Bull, never quite matching the Dutch driver’s blistering pace. With the lofty ambition of taking home both the Drivers’ and the Constructors’ Championship this year, Red Bull need two drivers who can fight for wins and finish in the points. But that all starts with having a fast and reliable car that both drivers can use. This, as we will see later, is a whole lot easier said than done.
Aside from differences in skill, experience, and sheer talent, another limiting factor is the car. Albon talked about his experience partnering Max Verstappen on the High Performance podcast a little while ago, saying, in a roundabout way, that the Red Bull cars were built around Max Verstappen’s driving style. Albon says that Verstappen has a “unique driving style,” one that isn’t easy to get along with. While both drivers prefer a good front end that’s “quite sharp”, Albon said that Verstappen’s preferred set up is “eye wateringly sharp,” likening it to putting your computer mouse on maximum sensitivity. Albon’s performance, as a consequence, began to nosedive. To compensate for his drop off, Alex said he had to take more risks, had to step outside his comfort zone and be more aggressive, forgoing his “smooth driving style.” As a consequence, Alex went off a number of times, losing more and more confidence with each frustrating spin. As the car got sharper and sharper, Albon said he grew more and more tense, starting to second guess every move he made in the car. The now Williams driver didn’t know how the car would react from one corner to the next, creating a snowball effect. When asked about whether or not he enjoyed being a Red Bull driver, Alex said, “no, not at all. I was struggling.”
It’s one thing hearing it from a former driver, but having our suspicions confirmed by the horse itself is an entirely different matter. When asked about why Max Verstappen’s teammates lack pace compared to him, Christian Horner said precisely exactly what we have all been thinking. “Max is quite specific about what he wants from a car to make it fast”, with the four time champ preferring a “very positive front end,” said Horner. This set up unsettles the car, which Horner says is “very confidence sapping for a driver.” Well, at least anyone who’s last name doesn’t start with a “V”. “You’re always going to follow the direction of your faster driver and that leads the organization in terms of its development,” said Horner, excusing the obvious favouritism in the team. So, in a roundabout way, yes, the Red Bull cars are built around Max’s aggressive, on the edge driving style.
And Lawson most certainly struggled with the bitey RB 21, having dismal weekends in Melbourne and Shanghai. Like Albon, Lawson couldn’t get to grips with Verstappen’s set up, qualifying at the back of the grid in both rounds. Former F1 driver-turned Sky Sports presenter Karun Chandhok noticed Lawson’s nervousness in the RB 21, saying that then Red Bull didn’t attack corners with the same ferocity as his 4-time champion teammate. This, as we’ve come to learn, comes down to the set up of the car. Qualifying dead last for the sprint race, Lawson made a number of daring overtakes during the 29 lap shootout, summoning his inner Daniel Ricciardo with some late-braking maneuvers. Having finished 14th in the sprint, Lawson was back down the field in qualifying, with his best lap good enough for only 20th in the grand prix. Making last minute set up changes to ease his woes, Lawson would start at the bottom of the grid for the grand prix. A baffling two-stop strategy by the Racing Bulls team saw Lawson finish 12th in front of his replacement, Tsunoda, who finished a disappointing 16th.
Tsunoda has enjoyed relative success with his current team. Regularly featuring in the points, at least until the last few races, and consistently making it into Q3, Tsunoda has come leaps and bounds from where he started in 2021. The fiery Japanese driver has toned it down over the last few years, mellowing into the driver we all know and love today. While a two stop strategy in China sullied what had been a glorious weekend for the Racing Bulls driver, Tsunoda is having quite a successful season so far in the junior team. Given just how cutthroat and negatively geared Red Bull is, Tsunoda might struggle a little in the tricky car. But, like most things, only time will tell.
