By James Broughton, April 3, 2025
Liam “No Friends” Lawson has admitted to being blindsided by his demotion from Red Bull Racing to the team’s B-Squad, Racing Bulls, after just two races. Lawson certainly had that down-under attitude, brashly confident about ascending to the Red Bull team after only 11 F1 races under his belt. The F1 media have referred to Lawson’s demotion as a brutal demonstration of just how competitive and pressurized F1 is. And indeed, it is a brutal example of the fine line between success and failure.
However, it’s not unusual for Red Bull to act decisively and brutally. Being harsh on its academy drivers is part of the Red Bull playbook, and it underscores just how ineffective the Red Bull driver development program is at finding and nurturing the next generation of F1 talent.
Lawson’s failure at Red Bull reflects as much on Red Bull’s approach to driver development as it does on the driver himself—a program that holds its young talent hostage to the whims of senior management, who seem to act with impunity, much like an out-of-touch music mogul.
Mad Dog Marko’s Miscalculation
Mad Dog Helmut Marko stated that Lawson’s promotion to Red Bull was a mistake. However, Lawson’s mistake was believing that Red Bull would give him more time. Speaking ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, Lawson revealed his “shock” at being told he would be replaced by Yuki Tsunoda.
“It was definitely a shock, honestly. It’s not something that I saw coming. The discussions we were having weren’t really leaning in this direction, so it was definitely not something that I expected.”
Obviously, I would have loved more time,” said Lawson, who will now drive alongside Isack Hadjar for Racing Bulls.”
“We had a rocky testing. We had a rocky first weekend in Melbourne with practice. And then obviously China was a sprint. But obviously, it’s not my decision, so I’m here to make the most of this one.”
Liam “No Friends” Lawson is fortunate to be given a chance to resume his F1 career with Racing Bulls. Red Bull could have easily discarded him, like so many drivers before him. He now has to focus on doing his driving on the track because he did too much off it.
