Red Bull have relegated Liam Lawson back to Racing Bulls after just two races of the 2025 Formula 1 season.
The New Zealander was brought in to replace Sergio Perez after the Mexican cost Red Bull the constructors’ title last season. The Milton Keynes-based outfit hoped Lawson would be an improvement on Perez, but his tenure was a disaster.
Lawson crashed out in Melbourne in the tricky conditions after qualifying 18th. Things got worse in Shanghai as he qualified last for the Sprint and the main race.
The 23-year-old did produce some daring overtakes in Saturday’s race but could still only manage 14th. On Sunday, he finished 16th but was bumped up to P12 after Jack Doohan was penalised and his Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly and the Ferraris were disqualified.
Lawson was ‘frazzled’ behind the scenes as he lost total confidence in the RB21. The Kiwi driver struggled to adapt to the car’s sensitive setup – much like Perez and their predecessors.
Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon also suffered the same fate as they could not perform next to Max Verstappen, but Red Bull’s latest driver swap is by far the most brutal. Lawson has the shortest Red Bull career with two races – and it could have been even worse.
Christian Horner gave Liam Lawson another chance in Shanghai – Helmut Marko wanted him out after Melbourne
Lawson was given the second Red Bull seat after just 11 Grand Prix starts with Racing Bulls – formerly AlphaTauri. Karun Chandhok wondered if it was ‘too soon’ for the New Zealander to have the seat after watching him at the Australian Grand Prix.
Lawson had never driven the Albert Park circuit before that weekend and the wet weather conditions did not help matters. But Jaime Alguersuari noticed Lawosn looked ‘lost’ after watching his onboard – he could not get to grips with his machine.
The Kiwi driver was one of four rookies to crash in Melbourne – his accident was identical to Isack Hadjar’s on the formation lap, as he lost the back end at turn two and hit the wall.
According to a report from the Daily Mail, Lawson’s Red Bull debut was already ‘too much’ for Helmut Marko. It suggests that the Austrian wanted him gone after just one race following his poor performance.
However, the report claims that Christian Horner ‘made an argument to give Lawson another chance’, which came at the Chinese Grand Prix. Unfortunately, he desperately underperformed and now finds himself out of the team – but it could have happened sooner.
READ MORE: Who is Racing Bulls F1 driver Liam Lawson? Everything you need to know
How Liam Lawson’s camp have responded to Red Bull demotion
Horner says Red Bull have a ‘duty of care’ to protect Lawson and have subsequently taken him out of the firing line. Fans were calling for Lawson to be sacked after his poor performance in Shanghai.
But several key figures are not buying Horner’s reasoning. Will Buxton called the decision ‘laughable’ as the team reached a ‘new low’ dropping him two races in – he wished Yuki Tsunoda ‘good luck’ as he replaces Lawson for the Japanese Grand Prix.
Losing the Red Bull seat will sting, but interestingly, Lawson’s camp have ‘welcomed’ the demotion. They understand the team are trying to protect the New Zealander by sending him to a low-pressure environment.
In fact, the switch could benefit Lawson more than Tsunoda as the Racing Bulls appears to be easier to handle than the Red Bull. The Japanese driver proved the VCARB 02 has performance by reaching Q3 in the first two races – Lawson can use that to his advantage and recover his form.
