Red Bull Racing has officially announced that it will be swapping out Liam Lawson as Max Verstappen‘s teammate ahead of the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix.
On Thursday, March 27, Red Bull Racing sent shockwaves across the sporting world by announcing that Yuki Tsunoda will be partnering with Verstappen for the Japanese Grand Prix. The shock decision comes just two races in for Lawson, who was chosen ahead of Tsunoda for the 2025 season.
Announcing that @yukitsunoda07 will partner Max from the #JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/Pz05P7cFKF
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) March 27, 2025
Team principal Christian Horner said “it has been difficult to watch” the Kiwi driver “struggle” with the Red Bull team during his first two races.
“We came into the 2025 season, with two ambitions, to retain the World Drivers’ Championship and to reclaim the World Constructors’ title, and this is a purely sporting decision,” Horner said.
“We acknowledge there is a lot of work to be done with the RB21 and Yuki’s experience will prove highly beneficial in helping to develop the current car. We welcome him to the Team and are looking forward to seeing him behind the wheel of the RB21.
“We have a duty of care to protect and develop Liam and together, we see that after such a difficult start, it makes sense to act quickly so Liam can gain experience, as he continues his F1 career with Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, an environment and a team he knows very well.”
🗣️ "It has been difficult to see Liam struggle with the RB21 at the first two races and as a result we have collectively taken the decision to make an early switch."
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) March 27, 2025
More from Christian on today's announcement 📣👇
Without a doubt, Lawson has had a rocky start to the season thus far. Earlier this month, he crashed out of his Red Bull debut in Melbourne, and more recently, he was slowest in both qualifying sessions in Shanghai and recovered only to 15th in the grand prix.
Lawson was elevated to 12th after Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly were all disqualified, as reported by Wide World of News.
Christian Horner says Liam Lawson “still has potential”
Prior to Red Bull’s official announcement, a number of publications reported that Lawson had been demoted to the junior Racing Bulls team, with Tsunoda to take his place in his home race at next weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.
Earlier this week, Horner noted that the Kiwi had a “tough couple of races” and that there was always going to be “speculation in the paddock” in regards to rumours surrounding Lawson’s position on the team.
“Look, I think everything is purely speculative at the moment. As I say, we’ve just finished this race, we’re going to take away the info and have a good look at it,” he said, per Formula1.com.
“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 and he’s got all the media on his back. The pressure just naturally grows in this business.”
Speaking to Sky Sports Germany, former driver Ralf Schumacher indicated the decision has already been made, citing a source within the team. He also suggested senior advisor Helmut Marko — who has been advising Red Bull Racing and its related teams since 2005 — would prefer to make the switch “relatively quickly”.
However, Schumacher urged the squad to stick with Lawson and urged the team to instead focus on “making the car better”.
“You have to bear in mind that Red Bull is anything but good at the moment,” he said, as reported by Wide World of News.
“When you come in as a young new driver and then have to race against the best driver of the current era, who has spent years developing the car around him, no matter who I put next to him, he will be sent home within a few races.
“I would recommend leaving it as it is and making the car better.”
The off-season promotion of Lawson was previously viewed as a surprise, given 24-year-old Tsunoda had served a four-year apprenticeship at the junior team. F1 writer Daniel Valente also questioned the move, tweeting on Wednesday (local time) that this whole saga “has looked worse on the decision making than it has Lawson”.
Meanwhile, Tsunoda has also indicated he would be happy to take Lawson’s seat if the opportunity arose.
“Yeah, why not? Always,” he told reporters in the media paddock behind pit lane on Saturday, per Fox Sports.
The publication also noted the decision to swap out Lawson would be “one of the most savage axings in F1 history”, pointing out the team allowed Sergio Perez to see out the season last year.
Lawson has yet to release a statement in response to Red Bull’s announcement.
Lead image: Getty
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