After two difficult races with the team, Liam Lawson has been demoted from Red Bull Racing.

The New Zealander will swap positions with Yuki Tsunoda ahead of the Japanese driver’s home race. Tsunoda, then, will serve as Max Verstappen’s Red Bull Racing teammate, while Lawson will find his footing again at Racing Bulls.

Liam Lawson swapped with Yuki Tsunoda

It is a swift decision after two very challenging race weekends for Lawson.

Both Lawson and Verstappen have described Red Bull’s current F1 car, the RB21, as being challenging to drive. As such, it will require experience and insight to bring the car into a more comfortable operating window.

A collective decision has been made to place the more experienced Tsunoda in the Red Bull team, with Lawson returning to Racing Bulls in order to continue growing as a Formula 1 driver within a more familiar environment.

“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,” Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner stated in the press release.

“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 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.”

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Why wasn’t Yuki Tsunoda promoted earlier?

Yuki Tsunoda debuted in Formula 1 at the first race of the 2021 season, which, in a rookie-heavy 2025 season, makes him one of the more experienced drivers on the grid. So why wasn’t Tsunoda promoted to Red Bull in the first place?

While the Japanese driver signed to the Red Bull Junior Programme in 2019, his initial backing came from Honda. In 2016, Tsunoda joined the Honda Formula Dream Project, which is the engine manufacturer’s in-house junior program designed to train talent that will go on to compete in Honda-powered machinery in top-level motorsport.

In 2019, Red Bull Racing announced that it would become Honda’s full-works F1 team for the next few years. It should come as no surprise, then, that Tsunoda was brought into the Red Bull junior program that same year.

Unfortunately for Tsunoda, a seat at the main Red Bull Racing team didn’t open up until after the 2024 season had come to a close — at which point, Red Bull had announced that it would be swapping to Ford powertrains from 2026 and beyond.

As a strategic Honda-inspired hire, there seemed to be an expectation that Tsunoda will be leaving the Red Bull program along with the power unit manufacturer, and that the Ford era will make his presence redundant.

The opening of a Red Bull seat for 2025 was unexpected. Early in the 2024 season, Sergio Perez had inked a contract that would see him remain with the team through 2025, with an option to remain in 2026. However, Perez’s sudden downturn in form made it clear to Red Bull that a replacement was badly needed.

Tsunoda was not considered a strong candidate to replace Perez because his strategic purpose with the team will be fulfilled at the close of 2025.

How did Liam Lawson end up here?

Red Bull Racing found itself stuck between a rock and a hard place heading into the 2025 season. It had been banking on another year or two of a Max Verstappen/Sergio Perez partnership at the team, which would have allowed its junior talent to mature in the junior Racing Bulls team.

But bumping Perez created a new hurdle. With Daniel Ricciardo also gone, and Yuki Tsunoda likely leaving at the close of 2025, it had only one driver with some amount of F1 experience left to promote: Liam Lawson. The remaining drivers in Red Bull’s junior program are still looking to secure super licenses.

The process needed to be expedited, though, and Red Bull took a chance on Lawson. The Kiwi driver had looked promising after replacing Daniel Ricciardo, though with only 11 Grands Prix under his belt, there would naturally be a learning curve.

Unfortunately, the RB21 has not been an easy car to drive, and it is obvious that there is more development required to bring the car up to a standard that would make it a championship contender. Lawson is still honing his craft as a driver; expecting him to manage both the driving learning curve and the tech development of the RB21 is a lot of pressure for a young driver.

In the first two Grands Prix of the year, Lawson has failed to make it out of Q1 in qualifying and has failed to score a point in the race. Those performances have come as a shock, considering how strong he looked in the junior car.

Red Bull have stepped in quickly to avert potential disaster. Now, it’ll be up to Tsunoda to rein in the Red Bull, while the pressure on Lawson’s shoulders should ease.

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