Liam Lawson has hit the Formula One headlines for all the wrong reasons. The New Zealand born driver had substituted for the injured Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull sister team in 2023 and across five Grand Prix weekends acquitted himself well scoring two points.
Many paddock observers thought he should replace Sergio Perez for 2024, but a strong finish to the year from the Mexican driver bought him another season. Lawson was again waiting in the wings for his next F1 driver, when the Red Bull sister team decided to part company with Ricciardo with six rounds of the 2024 season remaining.
Lawson struggled more against Tsunoda this time around, losing the qualifying battle 6-0 to his Japanese team mate and he scored just four points to Yuki’s eight in the championship. Again paddock opinion appeared to support the promotion of Yuki Tsunoda alongside Max Verstappen, but Red Bull made their decision after the post season test in Abu Dhabi.
Brown calls out Red Bull driver choice
The F1 media was on the whole ‘surprised’ at the choice of Lawson over Tsunoda and even come the season opener in Australia, McLaren CEO questioned Red Bull’s decision. When asked about how close the field had been in qualifying, Brown said: “I think it’s going to be a very exciting year.”
Having put his Racing Bull into P5 for the start of the Grand Prix, Brown added: “Yuki did a great job, probably the guy that should be in the Red Bull if you look at how he’s performed, but they seem to make some strange driver choices.”
Since then, Lawson crashed out of the race in Melbourne and qualified last in both Sprint and GP sessions last time out in China. His pit lane start to P12 in the Shanghai race on Sunday was lauded by some, although he had been promoted three places after the chequered flag with the disqualification of Hamilton, Leclerc and Gasly.
Lawson admitted the operating window of the car was much smaller than he was used to in the sister team and that time was short for him to get accustomed with the RB21. His analysis was indeed correct, given the grains of sand in the hour glass ran out sometime earlier this week.
Horner: Lawson will “thrive” on tracks he knows
The decision was not made in China, given Christian Horner made much of the fact that Lawson had never raced at the Melbourne or Shanghai circuits. Further the Red Bull boss predicted his young driver would “thrive” on circuits he knew, like Japan next tine out.
Yet for now, time is up on Lawson’s hopes to run at the front of the F1 field. That said, the Racing Bull car this year looks quicker than in previous seasons and as Max Verstappen claimed in China, was easier to drive than the RB21.
It would be irony of irony were Lawson to out qualify Tsunoda in Suzuka and Red Bull Racing would then be forced to admit they had a Pig of a car this year. Yet now the worst kept secret in F1 has been confirmed its time for the night of the long knives as Red Bull decide whose fault the original decision was.
When Lawson was announced in December, Christian Horner revealed it was a “split decision” between the New Zealander and Tsunoda. Dr. Marko painted Tsunoda at the time as “improved” but still “too inconsistent.”
‘Recollections differ’ over Lawson promotion
Interestingly Dr. Marko is now claiming the decision to promote Lawson in December was ‘unanimous’, clearly a different recollection than Horner had at the time. “Yuki was too inconsistent. That’s why we unanimously decided on Lawson,” the Austrian told OE24 early today. “But, under the increased pressure, he couldn’t deliver right from the first day in Australia.
“Then he went into a downward spiral. It’s like a battered boxer; it’s very difficult to get out of it. In that sense, it was a mistake,” Marko concludes.
Christian Horner gives his view of the Red Bull decision to switch drivers before Japan claiming its part of his ‘duty of care’ for the Kiwi driver to ensure Liam has time to respond to his early season difficulties by heading back to the team he knows better.
“We see that after such a difficult start, it makes sense to act quickly so Liam can gain experience, as he continues his F1 career with Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, an environment and a team he knows very well,” said Horner. Yet there are those who are less than convinced that Red Bull have handled the matter well.
Audi breaks silence on FIA U-Turn on hated 2026 F1 engines
Red Bull unity under pressure
Sky F1 driver expert Karun Chandhok said in China, the team owed Liam support through his current troubles with the RB21 at least until F1 returns to Europe in four race weekends time. A number of senior F1 writers have described Red Bull’s treatment of their driver as “cowardly”, “incompetent” and “deplorable” and with such high rhetoric in play even the two weeks before Horner et al face the paddock media since again is unlikely to see the furore subside.
A number of senior F1 reporters have pointed the finger at Dr. Marko, claiming he’s little to show for in his Red Bull young driver programme since recruiting Max Verstappen over ten years ago. The internal divisions last season led some to suggest Horner was trying to exit Marko, who confronted the rumours head on stating “He does not decide my contract,” making it plain it would be he himself would decide when his F1 time was up.
Marko was forced to admit in 2023 that Horner looked to have been correct in his doubts over the recruitment of Nyck de Vries. Whilst Marko felt the ex-Mercedes driver was the next ‘silver bullet’ driver, Horner was less sure. “Basically it’s AlphaTauri, but we’re a big family and we get opinions. He [Horner] was not a fan of De Vries. I would say at the moment it looks like he was right,” admitted Dr. Marko not long before De Vries was sacked mid-season.
Max Verstappen has made his position clear on where he stands with the rapid demotion of his team mate. The F1 world champion double-tapped on a picture of the Kiwi with a caption that includes: “They made a decision – fully aware – gave Liam two races only to crush his spirit. Trust yourself, get your head up and prove them wrong.”
Whatever the bizarre twists of fate the F1 future brings before Japan, one thing is certain Red Bull will be the centre of a media scum in the Suzuka paddock. Whether Horner, Marko et al can remain united in the face of the inevitable press onslaught, only time will tell.
FIA reveals teams in violation of flex rules
Red Bull accused of “cowardly”, incompetent” and “deplorable” behaviour
Whist there has been no confirmation from the Red Bull Formula One team that Liams Lawson is to be dropped, the cat appears well and truly out of the bag. TJ13 broke the story in the UK following Dr. Marko briefing a close contact of the team’s plans before the next race in Japan.
The response to the news of the New Zealand drivers’ demotion to the Racing Bulls has been varied, but with most questioning the sanity of the decision making going on in Milton Keynes.
Red Bull are renown for ditching drivers mid-season, but after just two races in 2025 even by their standards this is a remarkable move. The team failed to prepare lawson properly as did Mercedes with Kimi Antonelli who racked up a reported 10,000km of testing last year in a previous Mercedes F1 car…. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
