Liam Lawson admits he was “shocked” by Red Bull’s decision to demote him to Racing Bulls after just two races and believes with more time he could have been competitive.
The New Zealander, 23, was only handed the Red Bull seat four months ago after the team decided to buy Sergio Perez out of his contract for performance reasons.
At the time, Red Bull said they were impressed by the way Lawson stepped up to the challenge of replacing Daniel Ricciardo in the Racing Bull towards the back end of last year, suggesting they saw more potential in him than in long-term Racing Bulls driver Yuki Tsunoda, the man who has now, ironically, switched places with Lawson.
But Lawson struggled from the outset with Red Bull’s 2025 car, the RB21, stuttering in testing and then enduring a terrible time in Australia and China. Lawson crashed out of the former and qualified last in both the sprint race and the main grand prix in Shanghai. Inevitably his struggles were made to look even worse by the brilliance of Max Verstappen.
Both of those circuits were new to Lawson, however, and most people in the sport – Lawson included – expected him to be given the chance to drive at Suzuka this weekend at least, a circuit with which he is far more familiar due to his time in junior series. Lawson said as much in an exclusive interview with Telegraph Sport in Shanghai.
And he has now admitted he was blindsided by the speed of his demotion. “It was definitely a shock, honestly,” Lawson told Sky Sports F1 on Wednesday ahead of this weekend’s Japan race. “It’s not something that I saw coming. The discussions we were having as well, I think, weren’t really leaning in this direction, so it was definitely not something that I sort of expected.”
Asked whether he was frustrated at the lack of time he was given to impress – Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko had advised in Australia that the Kiwi driver would be given “three to five races” to prove himself – Lawson replied: “Honestly, yes. Obviously, I would have loved more time.
“And I felt like with more time, especially going to places that I’d been before… it was a tough start. We had a rocky testing. We had a rocky first weekend in Melbourne with practice. And then obviously China was a Sprint.
“I think going to places that I’d been before with the way the car was would have helped and I would have loved that opportunity. But obviously, it’s not my decision, so I’m here to make the most of this one.”
Both Marko and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner have been criticised for the way in which the episode unfolded, accused of promoting Lawson too soon as well as not giving him enough time to prove himself. But Horner, also speaking to Sky Sports F1 on Wednesday, said the team had had to be “cruel to be kind”.
“Of course, it’s horrible because you’re taking away someone’s dreams and aspirations, but sometimes you’ve got to be cruel to be kind, and I think that in this instance, this is not the end for Liam,” he said.
“I was very clear with him, is that it’s a sample of two races. I think that we’ve asked too much of you too soon.
“We have to accept that and so this is for him to, again, nurture that talent that we know that he has, back in the Racing Bulls seat, whilst giving Yuki the opportunity and looking to make use of the experience that he has.”
Horner added that it became obvious to him that he needed to remove Lawson from the firing line when his engineers became concerned by the driver’s behaviour.
“I think with everything that we saw in Australia and China, you could see that it was really affecting Liam quite badly.
“We could have left it, and I think that Liam is a driver with talent. Maybe within half a season he would have got there, but we just don’t have that amount of time.
“It was something that was very clear to the engineering side within the team, just how much Liam was struggling with it all, and you could see that weight upon his shoulders.
“The engineers were coming to me very concerned about it, and at the end of the day, I think it was the logical thing to do.”
Horner admitted Red Bull had a “lot of work” to do to improve the car, and that Tsunoda’s experience would be crucial to that. He added that Verstappen, contrary to reports that he was unhappy with the decision to demote Lawson, had had a “very good session” at the factory in Milton Keynes last week.
“I think he was surprised at the speed. But he could also see how much Liam was struggling,” Horner said of the four-time world champion’s reaction.
“He knows where we need to improve on the car. He’s been working really hard with the engineering team.
“We had a very good session with him last week where he’s just very focused on improving the car, finding those final few tenths to get us really on terms with the McLarens ahead.”
All the drivers, Verstappen included, will be put up for interviews in the paddock in Suzuka on Thursday.
