Liam Lawson was given the 2025 Red Bull F1 drive Daniel Ricciardo was chasing – but now the New Zealander has been dropped after only two Grands Prix.
Formula One driver Liam Lawson has officially been dropped by Red Bull Racing after only two events, the New Zealander replaced by Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda from the next race – the Japanese Grand Prix next weekend.
Lawson will swap seats with Tsunoda, returning to the Racing Bulls (RB) junior team which he joined in 2024, having replaced Australian Daniel Ricciardo after last September’s Singapore Grand Prix.
The 23-year-old Kiwi was promoted to the Red Bull Racing Formula One (F1) team alongside world champion Max Verstappen for 2025, with the demotion coming only two events into the 24-round season.
“It has been difficult to see Liam struggle with the RB21 at the first two races and, as a result, we have collectively taken the decision to make an early switch,” said Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner in a statement.
“We came into the 2025 season, with two ambitions: to retain the world drivers’ championship and to reclaim the world constructors’ title and this is a purely sporting decision … We acknowledge there is a lot of work to be done with the RB21 and Yuki’s experience will prove highly beneficial in helping to develop the current car.”
Under immense pressure as Verstappen’s team-mate – described as “the toughest seat in F1” by Horner – Lawson’s first two weekends with Red Bull in Australia and China saw him struggle with his new race car.
At the Australian Grand Prix, the New Zealander qualified 18th of the 20-car field – with issues with the car in practice interrupting his preparation – before crashing out of the race in the tricky conditions.
The conditions at Albert Park also caught out race winner Lando Norris and team-mate Max Verstappen, and dashed Australia’s hopes of a home win when Oscar Piastri spun off in the wet on lap 44.
Lawson admirably made no excuses for the result and vowed to keep working to lift his own performance.
Yet his efforts didn’t see an improvement the following weekend in China, which included a 19-lap Saturday Sprint race in addition to the 56-lap Grand Prix on Sunday.
Sprint qualifying saw Lawson dead-last – bad news on a circuit known to be difficult to pass on – before modest progress to 14th place in the Sprint race.
At the Chinese Grand Prix – won by Piastri for McLaren – the New Zealander qualified 20th yet again and was 15th at the chequered flag.
That officially became 12th – still outside the points – after the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, as well as the Alpine of Pierre Gasly were disqualified for technical rule breaches.
Lawson is yet to score a world championship point in 2025, while team-mate Verstappen sits second in the drivers’ standings behind leader Lando Norris.
In his pursuit of the 2025 Red Bull Racing drive – which saw him compete with Ricciardo to replace Mexican driver Sergio Perez – Lawson made no bones about the brutality of F1 and the need to perform.
“Especially in your early years in F1, with the way our contracts are and the way the teams are judging us – we have performance clauses, so we’re always under pressure. You’re never really safe,” Lawson told Motorsport.com.
Yuki Tsunoda’s promotion is seen as long overdue by many, the Japanese driver now with proven pace and maturity in his fifth season in the junior team – and, until now, seemingly snubbed.
Red Bull has also been criticised for what many believe was the premature promotion of Lawson, having only driven in 11 Grands Prix before 2025, with a best result of ninth.
Tsunoda’s best result of 4th has come from a career spanning 90 Grands Prix ahead of this season.
Yet the demotion of Lawson back to the junior team has also been seen as premature, with the Kiwi driver – like those before him – needing more than two races to blossom.
The seat alongside four-time world champion Verstappen is both coveted and loathed by drivers as a career ‘make or break’ seat for measuring talent.
Red Bull also has a strong focus on the Dutchman as the lead driver – with it being normal across all teams to focus on whichever driver is fastest – but with a history of short-lived team-mates to Verstappen.
This includes current rivals Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon and Gasly among others, with Ricciardo the only truly competitive team-mate to Verstappen.
“There’s no doubt that racing alongside Max, a four-time champion and undoubtedly one of the greatest drivers ever seen in F1, is a daunting task,” Horner said after the New Zealander’s Red Bull signing in late 2024.
“But I’m sure Liam can rise to that challenge and deliver some outstanding results for us next year.”
The next event is the third round of the 2025 Formula One World Championship, the Japanese Grand Prix, on April 6.
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