The stern Red Bull warnings Yuki Tsunoda ignored before losing out to Liam Lawson

Liam Lawson was chosen to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull for next season as the Mexican suffered a very difficult year.

It is a risky move for the Austrian team, as Lawson has raced in just 11 Grands Prix, which is less than half a season of experience.

Red Bull will partner the Kiwi with four-time world champion Max Verstappen next year as the team looks to reclaim the Constructors’ Championship in 2025 after slumping to third place this year.

The Red Bull has become difficult to drive as Verstappen demands a sharp front end with all the grip on the nose.

Lawson is wary of the Red Bull’s characteristics, but the Kiwi may be able to manage as he has been very adaptable over his career so far.

Before Perez left the team, Yuki Tsunoda competed for the Red Bull seat, but he will stay at Racing Bulls next year.

Tsunoda was given tough warnings before losing out on the Red Bull seat despite a positive test in Abu Dhabi driving the RB20.

Red Bull told Yuki Tsunoda to ‘lower the decibels’ on the team radio

Tsunoda had a difficult start to his Formula 1 career in 2021 when he joined the AlphaTauri team as he made costly errors and ranted on the radio.

The Japanese driver quickly became frustrated when things didn’t go his way, which is not a quality top teams on the grid look for.

READ MORE: Christian Horner shares Yuki Tsunoda’s immediate reaction to Red Bull snub after private talks

He also moved to Italy to be closer to the team at their base in Faenza as Tsunoda struggled slightly with the added pressure of Formula 1.

Fox Sports Argentina journalist Adrian Puente explained Red Bull were very clear with the 24-year-old when discussing the improvements he needed to make before losing out to Lawson.

He said: “There is someone who is pulling his hair out, pulling his hair out, poor Yuki. Since 2021, what used to be AlphaTauri is now the RB team. They told him, ‘If you behave, you go to Red Bull,’ because Yuki got angry. That’s what Yuki did because he was very nervous. I swear he was very nervous.

“They told him ‘come to Italy, do it as a permanent residence.’ We hired a psychologist, and he was going down a little bit because he was swearing on the radio and disrespecting his race engineer. They told him, in addition to driving well, to lower the decibels a bit, and Yuki continued the same as he was. 

“What does Yuki do? He gets angry, says insults, and doesn’t lower the decibels, so the chosen one is not him; he is someone with greater judgement despite how young he is in Liam Lawson.”

Tsunoda did improve and beat his recent Racing Bulls teammates, Nyck de Vries, Daniel Ricciardo and Lawson, over the past couple of seasons.

Liam Lawson may have more potential than Yuki Tsunoda

Tsunoda has been very quick and close to the podium, taking fourth place at Abu Dhabi in 2021 in a chaotic end to the race.

Lawson is much less experienced than the Japanese driver, but they were relatively well-matched during their six races together this year.

The Kiwi has shown a very stern side to his driving, and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner feels Lawson is strong enough to partner Verstappen.

There may be other options for Tsunoda outside of the Red Bull programme in 2026, as Aston Martin is taking on Honda engines, but Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll have contracts for multiple years.