Franz Tost tells Liam Lawson he needs to ‘forget’ about one thing after Red Bull demoted him to Racing Bulls

Liam Lawson is on a mission to get his confidence back in Formula 1 with Racing Bulls. He was dropped by Red Bull just two races into the 2025 season.

The New Zealander could not get to grips with the RB21 as he was knocked out in Q1 in Melbourne and Shanghai – qualifying last in the latter twice. Lawson lost total confidence at Red Bull as he failed to score points.

His poor form led to the Milton Keynes-based outfit demoting him back to Racing Bulls for the rest of the season. Max Verstappen disagreed with the swap, and while Yuki Tsunoda has been an improvement, with Q3 appearances in Bahrain and Jeddah, he is also struggling with the Red Bull machine.

Lawson knew Red Bull would struggle in testing as he could feel the car was unbalanced at Sakhir. Now back at Faenza, the 23-year-old has the chance to revive his career in a low-pressure environment.

Teammate Isack Hadjar has ‘definitely’ noticed a change in Lawson as he appears stronger with each weekend. While signs have been encouraging from his return to Racing Bulls, he is still without a point in 2025.

Meanwhile, Hadjar has scored five points as he continues to impress after his accident on debut in Australia. With a huge task at hand to save his future in F1, former team boss Franz Tost has offered words of advice that Lawson must take on board.

Franz Tost tells Liam Lawson to completely ‘forget’ about the past after Red Bull demotion

Speaking on the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Tost says Lawson made the step up ‘too early’ and that he must now ‘enjoy racing’ while being back at Racing Bulls.

However, he also stressed that the Kiwi driver cannot keep dwelling on the past. Lawson must ‘start from zero’ again and the performances will come.

“So I would tell him: ‘Look, the step to Red Bull was too early. You need now to come back and the most important part, what you have to do now is to enjoy racing, to enjoy driving the car, to have to build up a really good relationship to the team and to be positive, motivated, and then it will come,” said Tost.

“Because Liam knows more race tracks than later during the season because he did some races already for us.

“And I think that then he can recover. It’s up to him and he needs to be mentally strong. He needs to forget the past tense completely, not to think backwards.

“Oh I had the chance, I was there and it didn’t work and then to find excuses why it didn’t work’. No, forget it. Just to reset everything, start with zero and then he will be there.”

READ MORE: Who is Racing Bulls F1 driver Liam Lawson? Everything you need to know

What are Liam Lawson’s future prospects at Red Bull beyond 2025?

The 23-year-old will have his eye on a possible return to the main team in the future. Lawson is only contracted for 2025, meaning his Racing Bulls performances will decide his fate in F1.

Hadjar currently has the upper hand, with regular Q3 appearances already in 2025. With the Frenchman exceeding expectations, Guenther Steiner thinks Hadjar could join Red Bull and replace Tsunoda if he leaves in 2026.

Red Bull internally think Lawson may not return, with his chances being ‘very slim’. He will have to find another gear in 2025 as he could be out of F1 entirely come the end of the season.

Stefano Domenicali says Lawson must be ‘protected’ as he hinted Red Bull are not giving him enough ‘support’. It has been a wretched start to the 2025 season – it is vital that Racing Bulls get their driver in the right state of mind.