As news broke of Liam Lawson’s Red Bull demotion, former F1 driver Pascal Wehrlein told the New Zealander to “avoid the media” and backed his “super” talent to re-emerge with Racing Bulls.

After a third Q1 elimination at the Chinese Grand Prix, Red Bull announced on Thursday morning that Lawson’s days as Max Verstappen’s team-mate had come to an end as the team ‘exercised a driver rotation’.

Liam Lawson has been dropped from the RB21

Out went Liam Lawson, and in came Yuki Tsunoda.

As Red Bull explained, they are in the ‘unique position of having four seats on the Formula 1 grid, across Oracle Red Bull Racing and Visa Cash App Racing Bulls’.

Lawson though, instead of being consigned to the P45 pile, such as Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez, he was placed back at Racing Bulls, where last year he scored four points in six races.

It is, Laurent Mekies says, a chance for the 23-year-old to “shine” and “express the talent” in the “best environment possible”.

The brutal world of Formula 1:

👉 All the mid-season driver swaps Red Bull have made in their F1 history

👉Revealed: The shortest F1 careers this century in the brutal world of Formula 1

And if you ask Christian Horner, it was Red Bull doing the magnanimous thing for the young talent.

“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,” he said.

But whether it is seen as a demotion, unfair or just, Lawson heads into the next race in the F1 2025 championship, the Japanese Grand Prix, as a Racing Bulls driver.

That though, will do nothing to dim the spotlight on the 23-year-old.

Lawson bears the brunt of being Red Bull’s (initial) F1 2025 signing, Max Verstappen’s team-mate, the first driver in F1 2025 dropped and, which Verstappen ‘liked’, a sign of the “bullying” and “panic” at a team that no longer has it all their own way in F1.

Wehrlein, who himself only had a 39-race career in Formula 1, has told Lawson first and foremost not to listen to what the media has to say about him.

“Honestly, I think when you’re young, you should just avoid the media completely,” Wehrlein told RacingNews365.

“And I don’t mean that in a bad way, as in the world of sport, it is so competitive or over competitive that one day you’re the hero and the next day the media write you off.

“It almost feels like they forget that you’re actually a good racing driver and that everything you did in the past doesn’t matter anymore. We always say you’re just as good as your last race.

“But for example, to have that kind of pressure in Liam’s case after two races is big pressure and I’m pretty sure he’s a super talented driver and he’s shown that in the past.

“But the thing is, in motorsport you don’t have the time. You need to make it count when the opportunity is there. And many, many drivers dream to get that opportunity once in their lifetime.”

Werhlein was once a driver tipped to follow in the footsteps of Lewis Hamilton, but failing to shine in his two years on the grid with Mahindra and Sauber, he began a Mercedes reserve driver before taking up the Formula E challenge and winning the title with Porsche.

Read next: Explained: Why Red Bull swapped Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda