Likening Liam Lawson to a “battered boxer” after two rounds of F1 2025, Red Bull made a “mistake” in calling him up.

That is the verdict coming from Red Bull senior advisor and driver programme chief Helmut Marko, after the decision was made to demote Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda coming the other way.

Liam Lawson out for Yuki Tsunoda: Right call from Red Bull?

After the departure of Sergio Perez following the F1 2024 season’s conclusion, Red Bull turned to Lawson as their replacement choice. The team made the call to promote the New Zealander after only 11 grands prix contested across two stints with their junior squad, first in place of an injured Daniel Ricciardo in 2023, and again as Ricciardo’s replacement when he was shown the door after Singapore 2024.

However, Lawson struggled across his opening two race weekends with Red Bull, suffering a clean sweep of Q1 exits – which included qualifying last on the grid for the China Sprint and Grand Prix – while no points were scored.

That was enough to convince Red Bull to make a change already, with Tsunoda promoted from Racing Bulls to take over alongside Max Verstappen. Lawson returns to the junior team in a straight swap.

Despite having four seasons at Racing Bulls under his belt and an impressive 2024 campaign, Tsunoda was overlooked for the far less experienced Lawson ahead of F1 2025, so in an interview with OE24, Marko was asked to explain why Lawson was Red Bull’s original pick.

“Yuki was too inconsistent,” said Marko. “That’s why we unanimously decided in favour of Lawson.

“But he wasn’t able to perform under the greater pressure, right from the first day in Australia.”

While Lawson had originally been called up to Red Bull under the belief that he was best prepared mentally to handle racing alongside Verstappen – who has developed the reputation of a Red Bull team-mate killer – Marko said it quickly became apparent that Lawson was broken.

“Then he went into a downward spiral,” Marko continued. “It’s like a battered boxer, it’s very difficult to get out of it.

“From that point of view, it was a mistake [to pick Lawson].”

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Working in Lawson’s defence was the fact that the first two venues visited in F1 2025 – Melbourne’s Albert Park and the Shanghai International Circuit – were tracks which he had never experienced before, but it was not enough to convince Red Bull that he remained their best option.

And with Tsunoda now getting his long-awaited shot in Red Bull machinery, team principal Christian Horner explained why this is a decision which “makes sense”.

“It has been difficult to see Liam struggle with the RB21 at the first two races and as a result we have collectively taken the decision to make an early switch,” Horner stated.

“We came into the 2025 season, with two ambitions, to retain the World Drivers’ Championship and to reclaim the Constructors’ title and this is purely a sporting decision.

“We have a duty of care to protect and develop Liam and together, 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.”

Lawson’s return to Racing Bulls will see him partner rookie Isack Hadjar, who has made an impressive start to his F1 career.

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