Red Bull made the decision to drop Liam Lawson as Max Verstappen’s teammate after just two rounds of the Formula 1 season, replacing him with Yuki Tsunoda on Thursday.
Lawson, who had not previously completed a full F1 season, struggled in his brief stint with the team. He failed to score points, crashed out of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, and qualified last for both the Chinese Grand Prix and its sprint race.
Tsunoda, who moves up from Red Bull’s second team, Racing Bulls, will now join Verstappen for the Japanese Grand Prix next week. Lawson will take Tsunoda’s place at Racing Bulls, partnering with rookie Isack Hadjar.
This change highlights the intense nature of Formula 1 and reflects that Red Bull may have made the wrong call in choosing Lawson. Before this season, he had only competed in 11 career F1 races and was generally slower than Tsunoda in their six races as teammates last year.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner stated, “It has been tough watching Liam struggle with the car during the first two races, and as a result, we have all agreed to make an early change.”
“We entered the 2025 season with two goals: to retain the world drivers’ championship and to win back the world constructors’ title. This decision is purely based on sporting reasons,” said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.
Horner recognized that there’s still work to be done with the team’s RB21 car and believes Tsunoda’s experience will be valuable in helping to develop it further.
“We have a responsibility to support and develop Liam, and after such a tough start, we believe it makes sense to act quickly. This will allow Liam to gain more experience as he continues his F1 journey with Racing Bulls, a team and environment he’s familiar with,” Horner added.
The decision to replace Lawson so swiftly contrasts sharply with the patience shown to Verstappen’s former teammate, Sergio Perez, who was given a two-year contract extension midway through a challenging 2024 season. Perez was eventually dropped for Lawson in December after four years with the team.
Lawson publicly discussed the challenges he faced with the RB21 car, describing it as “tricky” to drive with a “very small window” for adjustments to make it competitive. His comments were similar to those made by Perez last year, who noted that the car became increasingly harder to handle as Red Bull’s development shifted to suit Verstappen’s driving style.
Tsunoda, 24, has been in F1 since 2021 and achieved his best championship finish of 12th last year, although he has yet to secure a podium finish. Within the broader Red Bull operation, Tsunoda has faced criticism for expressing frustration over the radio during races.
Tsunoda’s long-term future is complicated by his personal backing from Honda, which will end its partnership with Red Bull at the end of the year, as the team prepares to switch to Ford engines starting in 2026. Honda will continue supplying Aston Martin next season.
Racing Bulls team principal Laurent Mekies expressed pride in Tsunoda’s move to Red Bull, stating, “His progress last year, and especially from the very start of 2025, has been nothing short of sensational.”
Tsunoda will be Verstappen’s sixth teammate in 10 seasons with Red Bull. This marks the first time the main Red Bull team has replaced a driver midseason since 2019, when Pierre Gasly was dropped in favor of Alex Albon after 12 races.
Verstappen is the only Red Bull driver to have won a race in almost two years, and he is also the only one to have been on the podium in nearly a year. He has earned all of the team’s points in the four races since Perez finished 10th in Las Vegas in November.
