Red Bull Racing has made the fastest driver change in the history of the team, demoting Liam Lawson to Racing Bulls after just two Grands Prix and a sprint race with Red Bull. This sudden change of direction has brought debate to the world of motorsport as fans and pundits discuss what happened.
Semi-retired NASCAR driver Parker Kligerman has given his take on the situation as Lawson was swapped with Yuki Tsunoda for the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Milton Keynes team officially announced the move today. After a difficult Australian and Chinese Grand Prix for the young New Zealander, qualifying 18th in the former and 20th in the latter – the lowest a driver has qualified in Red Bull’s 20-year history – Lawson failed to score points for his team. And after a meeting between executives following the Shanghai race, a decision was made to pull him after just two race weekends.
According to F1 photographer Kym Illman, Lawson didn’t know this was happening until the story was first released by the media.
“My understanding, and this is terrible, is that Liam was not aware of the decision. He would have heard as soon as the story came out,” he said. “A terrible thing to do to a young driver.”
Ahead of the news of Lawson’s demotion, Kligerman had defended the driver and his place on the team.
“The guy has done 1 race for the team,” he said ahead of China. “1 race. Being a Red Bull driver not named Max, must be the ultimate test of mental fortitude in professional sports.”
Liam Lawson, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Today, he posted his surprise to X:
“One of the wildest and fastest driver changes and change of direction I’ve ever seen in motorsports.
“Potentially when finances (funding) aren’t the issue this is what happens in motorsports?”
Christian Horner, team principal of Red Bull, said the following amid the announcement.
“We came into the 2025 season, with two ambitions, to retain the World Drivers’ Championship and to reclaim the World Constructors’ title and this is a purely sporting decision.
“We acknowledge there is a lot of work to be done with the RB21 and Yuki’s experience will prove highly beneficial in helping to develop the current car. We welcome him to the team and are looking forward to seeing him behind the wheel of the RB21.
“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.”
Both drivers will be racing next weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix, Red Bull’s final race in Japan before they replace their Honda partnership with Ford for the 2026 season. Tsunoda will be hoping he can perform within the expectations of the team.
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