Red Bull Racing says Liam Lawson has been axed and replaced by Yuki Tsunoda, confirming days of speculation just two race weekends into the F1 season.
Tsunoda will take over from the struggling New Zealander starting at his home Japanese Grand Prix next week at Suzuka, Red Bull said in a statement on Thursday.
Tsunoda, 24, moves up from the RB team to partner with four-time world champion Max Verstappen. Lawson will move back down to RB, where he was last season.
Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal, said: “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.
“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.”
Lawson, 23, who was drafted in from RB in the winter to replace Sergio Perez, has endured a miserable start to the 2025 season.
He has been knocked out at the first stage of all three qualifying sessions and has yet to score a point.
Verstappen in the other Red Bull is second in the world title race with 36 points, eight behind early season leader Lando Norris of McLaren.
“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 Racing Bulls, an environment and a team he knows very well,” Horner added.
Tsunoda has shown pace on both race weekends of the season.
He was 12th in Australia and finished out of the points on Sunday at Shanghai only because of RB’s flawed two-stop pit strategy.
Tsunoda made his Formula One debut with AlphaTauri in 2021, becoming the first Japanese driver on the grid since Kamui Kobayashi in 2014.
Tsunoda is the latest driver to pair up with Verstappen at Red Bull Racing. He will be the fifth teammate for Verstappen since Daniel Ricciardo left at the end of the 2018 season.
