Red Bull F1 star claims team acted too quickly in brutal mid-season axe

Liam Lawson and Christian Horner in the Red Bull garage — Photo: © IMAGO

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Red Bull star claims team acted too quickly in brutal mid-season axe

Liam Lawson was replaced by Yuki Tsunoda after just two grands prix

Kevin McKenna

Wednesday 23 July 2025 10:57

A Red Bull star believes the team's decision to replace him in brutal fashion so early in the 2025 F1 campaign was too hasty.

Liam Lawson was the man selected to take over from Sergio Perez following the Mexican's dismal sequence of results over the second half of last season, and made no secret of his desire to help the team reclaim their constructors' crown.

However, a DNF and 12th-place finish in Australia and China respectively prompted Red Bull to make a shock change after just two grands prix which saw Lawson swap places with Racing Bulls racer Yuki Tsunoda.

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The move was widely criticised by pundits and drivers alike, with many insisting that the 23-year-old wasn't given enough time to show what he can do.

And speaking in an interview with F1.com, Lawson has admitted he shares the sentiment.

“I think I would say one thing to be clear about is that between the first couple of races, to the team switch, then going to Japan, mentally for me nothing changed," he said.

“It’s been very heavily speculated that my confidence took a hit and stuff like this, which is completely false. From the start of the year, I felt the same as I always have.

“I think in two races, on tracks I’d never been to, it’s not really enough for my confidence… maybe six months into a season, if I’m still at that level, if the results are still like that, then I’d be feeling something - maybe my confidence would be taking a hit."

Liam Lawson was ditched after just two races for Red Bull

Lawson 'needed time but wasn't given it'

Highlighting several factors behind his early season struggles, he added: “I was well aware that those results weren’t good enough, but I was just focused on improving, fixing and learning, basically. I was in the same mindset as I have been since I came into F1.

“I think that was the biggest thing going into a team like that, in a car like that… it was going to take a bit of time to adjust and learn.

"With no proper testing, the issues in testing, the issues in Melbourne through practice… it wasn’t smooth and clean. I needed time, and I wasn’t given it.”

While Lawson has looked far more comfortable back in the Racing Bulls seat, it has been far from plain sailing, having scored points just twice in 10 outings to date.

He is also currently being outperformed by rookie team-mate Isack Hadjar, who has made an impressive start to life in F1, putting his long-term future within the Red Bull family under threat.

Tsunoda, meanwhile, has offered little in the way of improvement on his predecessor, and is on a run of five races without a top-10 finish.

Red Bull's chances of winning the constructors' championship are already over, with McLaren 288 points clear at the top of the standings, while star driver Max Verstappen is facing up to the prospect of losing his drivers' title to Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

With the Dutchman's future also in doubt - coupled with the recent sacking of team principal Christian Horner - it promises to be a challenging period ahead for the F1 giants.

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