How Liam Lawson’s much hyped Red Bull tenure went so wrong so quickly
Saturday, 29 March 2025
Liam Lawson’s much hyped move to partner Max Verstappen at Red Bull has lasted just 98 days.
Lawson has been replaced ahead of the Japense Grand Prix by Yuki Tsunoda, with the Kiwi driver dropping back to Tsunoda's Racing Bulls seat.
Oddly, the sideways shift will likely see Lawson improve and could throw Tsunoda’s career to the wolves.
Liam Lawson’s time in “the toughest job in world motosport” is over before hitting triple figures in the metric of days.
Two Grand Prixs and one sprint race into his Red Bull tenure, Lawson has been given the sideways shift back to the energy drink manufacturer's junior team, Racing Bulls.
Lawson won the promotion to be four-times reigning world champion Max Verstappen’s team-mate, replacing the underperforming Sergio “Checo” Pérez, over his then Racing Bulls teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
Just 98 days later, Red Bull has gone back on that decision and switched the two following Lawson’s struggles to come to terms with the RB21.
Being Verstappen’s team-mate at Red Bull is described by many F1 experts as “the toughest job in world motosport”.
Lawson becomes the fifth driver the Ducth star has chewed up and spat out in nine and a bit seasons. Lawson joins Daniel Ricciardo (2016-18), Pierre Gasly (2019), Alex Albon (2019-20) and Pérez (2021-24) as those who have struggled with a car that is designed and built towards Verstappen’s unique driving style. Will Tsunoda be next?
With Lawson having the shortest stay yet as Verstappen’s No.2, we’ve compiled a timeline of the highs and lows of the 98 days.
December 19, 2024
It was late on a Thursday night, just a handful of days before Christmas, when the worst-kept secret in F1 was finally confirmed via a Red Bull press release and social media posts. A New Zealander was graduating to the top table of one of the best teams in the sport. Kiwi sports fans were celebrating the early Christmas present with joy and rightly so. At that time, it was celebrated as a special moment in Kiwi sports history. The glory days of Kiwis being competitive in F1 were likely about to be back.
December 20, 2024
Lawson is wheeled around the media circles. He joins a bunch of New Zealand-based reporters via a zoom call from the US. Lawson tells Stuff he’s confident he can succeed where others have failed as Max Verstappen’s team-mate. The hype and excitement are such that Lawson is asked if he thinks Kiwi F1 fans will hear the New Zealand national anthem in 2025, given each Grand Prix winner has their home anthem played on the podium.
February 19, 2025
Lawson walks out into The O2 Arena in London, alongside Verstappen and a host of dancers, at the glitzy F1 75 season launch where each team unveils its new livery. Team principal Christian Horner is booed by the crowd as a catchy video presentation is played, which features fans following the Red Bull racing truck and Lawson through the streets of London towards The O2 Arena.
February 27, 2025
Lawson completes the first day of testing in Bahrain, finishing with a spin and the eighth fastest time. Testing times are about as important as results in pre-season rugby games, due to a vast array of factors and spin outs and offs are common. Lawson’s second day of testing was plagued by cooling issues with his RB21 and rain hitting the track, but all in all, there were no massive concerns for outsiders, even if not everything went to plan. What was understood inside the Red Bull camp around Lawson's performance at this time, remains unknown.
March 14, 2025
It’s practice day at the Australian Grand Prix and for most Kiwi sports fans, it’s the first day they see Lawson kitted up in his Red Bull suit and driving the RB21 in anger. Just before the opening session, optimism is so high that the TAB opens a book with “boosted odds” of $5 for Lawson to win a race sometime this season. The promotion means the odds are boosted out from around $3.50, to entice punters. It’s seen by many as a good bet, easy money even.
Everyone knows it will take some time for Lawson to adjust to the RB21, so no miracles were expected but his times are a long way off the pace and he also touches the wall on the entry to turn nine. There’s no major damage, but in a worrying sign, his times don’t get much quicker and he finishes 16th fastest.
Chasing sharp improvement in the second practice session, just a couple of hours later, given he was the only driver in the field to have not raced on the Albert Park circuit, it simply doesn’t come and Lawson finishes 17th fastest.
“[I’m] comfortable [in the car] – just too slow,” Lawson said afterwards. “Day one, on a new track, we were expecting to have some work to do, but probably not this much.”
March 15, 2025
If things were bad on day one, they soon got worse. A power unit issue rules Lawson out of the final practice session. A mechanical failure that could not have come at a worse time.
Red Bull rushes to repair the RB21 and do so just in time for qualifying but Lawson just hasn’t had the time in the car. After teenage talent Oliver Bearman crashes out, Lawson only beats the time of Esteban Ocon, to qualify in 18th. However, due to a rear wing change - that ended up taking pace out of the car - Lawson starts the Grand Prix from the pitlane.
March 16, 2025
As much of the field dives into pitlane to go back to the intimidate tyres or wets, Red Bull is slow to react. They leave out Verstappen for an extra lap and leave Lawson - who is well down the field - out for even longer in a desperate gamble that could come off it the rain doesn't come to much. The rain is soon torrential and Lawson, who is not even pushing the car hard, can’t stay on the circuit and spins into the fence, his Red Bull debut ends on lap 47.
The wet and wild race is won by McLaren’s Lando Norris ahead of Lawson’s team-mate Verstappen.
March 21, 2025
A sprint weekend on a seven-day back up is a worst-case scenario for Lawson but that’s where he finds himself. He’s only quicker than fellow rookies Gabriel Bortoleto and Jack Doohan in the sole practice of the weekend and is clearly not comfortable in the car.
Later in the day, sprint qualifying goes even worse than expected. After his initial flying lap in Q1, Lawson struggled to cool his front tyres for another hot lap and he finishes last.
March 22, 2025
A day that gives Lawson’s fans hope and then rips it away to a new low. The Kiwi driver makes passes in the sprint race and finishes 14th. It was hardly cloud nine type stuff, but it offers plenty of positive pointers that Lawson is heading in the right direction.
But that all turns sour quickly when Lawson qualifies dead last for the Chinese Grand Prix. His final flying lap shows promise, but traffic, tyre temperature and a minor mistake ends things quickly.
March 23, 2025
In his second Grand Prix for Red Bull, Lawson again starts from pitlane after a late suspension set-up change. In a throw at the stumps, he’s also one of only three drivers to start on hard tyres. Reports begin to surface that these off-the-wall changes are because Lawson is being used as an experimental data machine to help improve Verstappen’s car as the reigning world champion is no longer the fastest and is himself struggling to find a balance in his RB21 that works.
Lawson crosses the line in 16th but is elevated to 12th due to time penalties and disqualifications for rival drivers. Soon after the race - won by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri with Verstappen’ back in fourth - is over, the Autosport website releases a report suggesting that Lawson could be demoted from Red Bull before the Japanese Grand Prix.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner says the team will do its best to support struggling Kiwi Liam Lawson as he’s hit with multiple post-race questions on Lawson’s future.
March 24, 2025
It’s the morning after the night before and even though it’s the cut-throat world of F1, or the Piranha club as it’s known and worse still, Red Bull, who have a reputation for being the most brutal with its driver programme, doubts swirl around the report’s accuracy. Lawson is struggling to come to grips with the RB21 but team decisions, his car’s reliability and the weather have most definitely not gone the Kiwi driver’s way. He's also just driven on two unfamiliar tracks for the first time.
March 25, 2025
Former Aston Martin strategist turned Sky F1 analyst Bernie Collins questions why Red Bull didn’t do more older car testing at tracks such as Shangui during the off-season.
“Why was he not doing 60 test days last year in a four-year-old Red Bull? It’s going to have the same characteristics. There’s no cost cap limit in that. He could have stepped into the car in a much, much stronger position than he currently is,” Collins said.
Her concerns are echoed by her colleague and former F1 driver Karun Chandhok.
March 26, 2025
Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reports Lawson is gone and the decision has been made to replace him with Yuki Tsunoda. This is hugely significant as almost all major Red Bull announcements are leaked through the Dutch media. Nothing is official but at this stage, it may as well be.
Prominent Kiwi motorsport analyst Bob McMurray, who spent three decades working with McLaren in F1, says Liam Lawson has been handed a “poisoned chalice’’ by Red Bull Racing. 'I think it is a ridiculous situation that they have got themselves into and I think the situation is entirely Red Bull's fault and not Liam's at this point.''
March 27, 2025
It’s over. Late on a Thursday evening (NZT) Red Bull makes official what the rest of the world seems to already know. Tsunoda is in for Red Bull at the Japanese Grand Prix and Lawson is back to the junior team, the Racing Bulls, effective immediately, ahead of next week’s Japense Grand Prix.
Reports emerge that Honda, Red Bull’s engine supplier who is the major backer of Tsunoda, have stumped up an additional $10 million to help support the driver switch. Honda is in their last year with Red Bull, with the two giants going their seperate ways when the new F1 regulations land for 2026.
Verstappen, who reportedly wanted Red Bull to put their efforts into improving the RB21 rather than demoting Lawson, ‘liked’ an Instagram post from former Formula One driver Giedo van der Garde accusing Red Bull of “bullying” Liam Lawson.
Lawson breaks his silence on his brutal demotion.
“Being a @redbullracing driver has been my dream since I was a kid, it’s what I’ve worked towards my whole life. It’s tough, but I’m grateful for everything that’s brought me to this point. To every one of you who’s stood by me, thank you for all the support it means the world,” he wrote in a social media statement.