Liam Lawson will be demoted to Racing Bulls for the third race of the season in Japan next week, with Yuki Tsunoda moving in the opposite direction to be Max Verstappen’s team-mate at the senior Red Bull team.
Telegraph Sport understands there are still details to sort out, so the switch has not yet been finalised, but the decision has now been made.
Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, admitted in China on Sunday evening that he was weighing up whether to pull Lawson out of the firing line just two races into the new season.
The New Zealander has been under immense pressure following two poor race weekends. After crashing out of his Red Bull debut in Melbourne, the 23-year-old qualified 20th and last for both the sprint and main race in Shanghai last weekend, eventually finishing the grand prix a distant 12th.
“Liam is obviously, confidence-wise, struggling with the car at the moment, which is why we made some significant changes today to see if we could find a more confidence-inspiring set-up for him,” Horner said. “I think Liam still has got potential, we’re just not realising that at the moment. I think the problem for him is he’s had a couple of really tough weekends, he’s got all the media on his back.
“The pressure just naturally grows in this business, and I feel very sorry for him. You can see it’s very tough on him at the moment.
“He’s a young guy, we’ve got a duty to look after him and we’re going to do the best that we can to support him.”
It is understood the decision was made in a meeting between senior Red Bull figures in Dubai, the home of major shareholder Chalerm Yoovidhya, on Tuesday.
Lawson’s swift demotion will raise eyebrows in the paddock and questions regarding Red Bull’s management.
The Kiwi was brought in to replace Sergio Perez, who was himself handed a new contract only last May. That deal was handed to him in the hope of inspiring him to greater heights. He was bought out of it in December after it became obvious that he could not live up to expectations.
There were calls at the time for Tsunoda to be given the Red Bull seat – the Japanese has consistently complained of being overlooked – but Lawson was given the nod on the strength of 11 F1 starts for Racing Bulls (previously AlphaTauri) spread across 2023-24.
In an exclusive interview with Telegraph Sportin China last week, Lawson said he did not have any sympathy for Tsunoda. “Honestly? No,” Lawson admitted. “You can’t in this sport, and anyway, if I look back over our career, I was team-mates with him in F3 and I beat him. In Euro Formula I was team-mates with him in New Zealand, and I beat him there. And then in F1 last season, I think honestly, if I look at all the times he got promoted instead of me in those early years, then no. He’s had his time. Now it’s my time.”
It appears Lawson’s time is over almost before it began, although he is not the first Red Bull driver to be demoted back to the sister team. Daniil Kvyat and current Alpine driver Pierre Gasly suffered the same fate. Lawson will feel aggrieved he was not given the chance to impress at Suzuka, a track he has actually driven before, which was not something he could say for Melbourne or Shanghai.
Tsunoda’s links to Honda – the 24-year-old has been backed by Red Bull’s engine supplier throughout his career – are likely to have been a factor in the decision, although there is clearly a big risk in promoting the Japanese, given how difficult the Red Bull car is to drive. Only Verstappen has looked capable of extracting much from it for the past year. The Dutch driver sits second in the drivers’ standings.
Tsunoda insisted, though, that he would be ready for the challenge if it came his way. “A hundred per cent,” he replied in China when asked about the possibility of stepping up in Japan. “The Red Bull is a faster car.”
