Liam Lawson begins the process of rebuilding both his confidence and his image at the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend after being demoted from Red Bull.
The 23-year-old returns to Visa Cash App Racing Bulls for the remainder of the season after two disastrous races to open the 2025 Formula 1 season.
In hindsight, Red Bull’s decision to promote Lawson was both incorrect and premature for a driver with just 11 races of experience at the time.
His replacement and the man who was snubbed over the winter – Yuki Tsunoda, comes with much more experience and should be of greater use to the team.
Lawson gave Red Bull ‘no real choice’ but to make the Tsunoda swap after presenting some negative body language at the Chinese Grand Prix, where he qualified 20th on the grid twice.
Tsunoda has already ignored Christian Horner’s Red Bull advice by setting a very lofty target for his debut at Suzuka. His ambitions may be too strong.
READ MORE: Max Verstappen did something after Liam Lawson’s demotion that was ‘painful’ for Red Bull, ‘makes no sense…’
Christian Horner offers Liam Lawson ‘very clear’ advice about Red Bull F1 aspirations
With the 2026 F1 regulations around the corner, and a significant driver decision to be made, the next 22 races are far more significant for Red Bull’s future than anything they may achieve on the track.
Taking time to assess Lawson and Tsunoda will help them realise whether it is the right decision to move forward with either of them in the long run.
Speaking to Sky Sports’ Craig Slater, Red Bull CEO and team boss Horner mentioned what he said to Lawson after he told him that he would be returning to the junior team.
“Of course, it’s horrible because you’re taking away someone’s dreams and aspirations, but sometimes you’ve got to be cruel to be kind. I think that in this instance, this is not the end for Liam.
“That’s what I was very clear with him. There’s a sample of two races, I think that we’ve asked too much of you too soon.
“We’ve got work to do with the car, we need to improve the car, we need to draw on the experience that Yuki has and in the meantime, you need to go and rebuild yourself in the Racing Bulls, in an environment that you know and that is slightly less pressured.”
READ MORE: Helmut Marko says it was ‘surprising’ how far below expectations Liam Lawson fell in one area at Red Bull
Why Liam Lawson’s Red Bull performance was ‘completely unacceptable’ in 2025
After two races alongside the reigning four-time champion Max Verstappen, Lawson managed to reduce the qualifying deficit to 0.750 seconds in Shanghai.
His race pace wasn’t much more convincing and it led to him being demoted. There were not enough promising signs for him to be kept on.
Mark Webber called Lawson’s performance ‘completely unacceptable’ and criticised the gap between the Kiwi and Verstappen.
Now that he is returning to a car that he is more familiar with, and a much wider setup window, he should be quicker almost immediately.
If not, then the name Arvid Lindblad could begin to circulate a little more often. He will already be in the frame for a 2026 F1 seat.
