We have a very busy F1 news round-up to bring you after a huge day in the F1 2025 season courtesy of Red Bull.

And that is because with just two rounds of the season complete, Liam Lawson is out and heading back to Racing Bulls from the Japanese Grand Prix, as Yuki Tsunoda comes the other way. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and senior advisor Helmut Marko are among those to have given their verdict, so let’s dive into the action.

Red Bull has ‘duty of care’ to Liam Lawson

After failing to score points or escape Q1 in Australia and China, Lawson has returned to Racing Bulls to continue his F1 career away from the main Red Bull outfit.

And following a harrowing time in the Red Bull RB21, team boss Christian Horner said this Tsunoda/Lawson swap “makes sense” and that Red Bull has made this decision with its “duty of care” to Lawson in mind.

Read more – Christian Horner: Why it ‘makes sense’ to swap Lawson with Tsunoda

Helmut Marko likens Liam Lawson to ‘battered boxer’

After Sergio Perez vacated his Red Bull seat at the end of last year, the team overlooked the far more experienced option at Racing Bulls in Tsunoda to go with Lawson, who had contested only 11 grands prix at that point.

Marko has explained that Tsunoda was “inconsistent” and so all parties at Red Bull agreed on Lawson, though that decision has since proven to be a “mistake”.

Read more – Helmut Marko’s Lawson confession after ‘battered boxer’ demoted

Yuki Tsunoda responds to big Red Bull break

But, Red Bull will now find out the alternate scenario as Tsunoda – after four seasons and a bit with the junior squad – gets his opportunity in the senior team.

Tsunoda will debut in front of his home crowd at the Japanese Grand Prix, and is “ready for the challenge ahead”.

Read more – Yuki Tsunoda issues first response after Red Bull promotion

Max Verstappen like speaks volumes

As the speculation swirled that Red Bull could drop Lawson for Tsunoda, so too did a claim that Verstappen was not happy about this.

And once that was confirmed, and ex-F1 driver Giedo van der Garde took to Instagram to call confirmation of Liam Lawson’s demotion “closer to bullying or a panic”, Verstappen liking the post said it all.

Read more – The Max Verstappen ‘like’ that reveals true Red Bull swap feelings

Bottas’ Mercedes status clarified amid McLaren test

After losing his Sauber seat, Bottas returned to the Mercedes fold for F1 2025 as reserve driver, and got back behind the wheel of an F1 car in Barcelona with McLaren, an engine customer of Mercedes.

That sparked talk that Bottas was to become McLaren reserve, but PlanetF1.com understands this theory to be wide of the mark, with Bottas to remain very much Mercedes reserve, the test rather a chance for Bottas to familiarise himself with McLaren in the event they needed to call upon his services.

Read more – Valtteri Bottas returns to F1 action as McLaren test comes to light