Liam Lawson says he is “excited” to be working with the Racing Bulls team again after being replaced by Yuki Tsunoda at Red Bull.

Lawson was promoted to a Red Bull seat over the winter after just 11 F1 starts for Racing Bulls (previously AlphaTauri) spread across the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

Liam Lawson ‘very excited’ by VCARB return after Red Bull decision

However, the New Zealander has paid the price for his poor start to the F1 2025 campaign in Australia and China with Red Bull announcing last week that Tsunoda will step up to replace Lawson, who has been demoted back to Red Bull’s sister team.

Tsunoda’s Red Bull debut at this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix will see him become Max Verstappen’s third different team-mate in the last four races, stretching back to Sergio Perez’s last appearance at the 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi.

Lawson’s lack of experience meant that he had never raced on the circuits in Australia and China prior to the F1 2025 season, with the Suzuka circuit in Japan more familiar territory.

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The 23-year-old finished second at Suzuka in the Super Formula single-seater series in 2023, with Lawson also participating in that year’s Japanese Grand Prix when he stood in for the injured Daniel Ricciardo.

Speaking in a team statement provided to PlanetF1.com ahead of the Japanese GP, Lawson declared that he is “very excited” to be back with Racing Bulls and vowed to give “everything I have” for a result to kickstart his season.

He said “I’m really looking forward to be racing in Japan this weekend. Suzuka is one of my favourite tracks on the calendar.

“It’s cool to drive and very high speed, which makes it great fun in a Formula 1 car.

“This weekend is a big opportunity for me as I rejoin Visa Cash App Racing Bulls and I’m very excited to work with this team again.

“As always, I’ll be giving it everything I have.“

Alan Permane, the Racing Bulls racing director, expressed his optimism that Lawson will form a potent partnership with Isack Hadjar, whose pace has impressed in the early weeks of his rookie season.

“We welcome Liam back to the team at a track he knows well from his season in Super Formula in 2023 and look forward to him and Isack working together to extract the maximum performance from the car here and for the rest of the season.”

Lawson’s latest comments come after Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko revealed that Tsunoda has impressed in his first simulator sessions with the team, revealing that his feedback – once a weakness – has been helpful.

Marko said: “We gave him two or three simulator sessions and those were very good.

“Also his technical feedback, something he had been criticised for in the past, was very solid.

Lawson previously issued a short statement on social media in reaction to Red Bull’s decision to replace him with Tsunoda.

Writing in a post on Instagram last week, he said: “Being a Red Bull Racing driver has been my dream since I was a kid, it’s what I’ve worked towards my whole life.

“It’s tough, but I’m grateful for everything that’s brought me to this point.

“To every one of you who’s stood by me, thank you for all the support it means the world.”

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Racing Bulls have shown promising pace at the start of F1 2025 with both Hadjar and Tsunoda reaching Q3 in Shanghai last month.

With Lawson qualifying 20th and last for both the sprint and main race in China, Racing Bulls’ prompted Verstappen to claim that Lawson would be capable of better results with the VCARB02 car.

Verstappen said: “If you look at the difference between the two drivers at the other teams, they are all closer together.

“It also shows that our car is extremely tough.

“I think if you put Liam in the Racing Bulls car, he will go faster. I really think so.

“That car is easier to drive than ours. I also notice that when I talk to Liam.

“Last year, I didn’t think the difference between him and Yuki Tsunoda was that big. Otherwise the team wouldn’t make the choice to put him in at Red Bull either.”

Verstappen’s comments were dismissed by Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, who insisted that the RB21 has a higher performance ceiling than the Racing Bull car despite its tricky handling characteristics.

Horner said: “I think the Racing Bull is a more settled car in terms of it probably is a little more stable on entry.

“It probably has a bit more understeer in that car and therefore is easier to adapt to but you can see the difference in pace in the cars on a longer stint.

“But I think in terms of finding the limit in a car that has inherent understeer, it is always going to be easier than finding the limit in a car that is a little more edgy.”

Horner’s comments were echoed by Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko, who added: “It is true that the RB21 is difficult to drive.

“The Racing Bull is easier to handle and very fast on a qualifying lap.

“But in the race, it is clearly behind the Red Bull Racing car.”

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