Red Bull has dropped Liam Lawson after just two rounds of the 2025 F1 season.
The team confirmed Yuki Tsunoda will take his place from the next round of the world championship at Suzuka in Japan.
Red Bull hired Lawson to replace Sergio Perez at the end of last year. He crashed out on his debut for the team at Melbourne, then failed to score in either the sprint race or the grand prix in China last week.
“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,” said team principal Christian Horner in a statement.
“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.
“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.”
Lawson will return to drive for Red Bull’s second F1 team, Racing Bulls. “We have a duty of care to protect and develop Liam,” said Horner, “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.”
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Red Bull originally passed over Tsunoda for promotion to its top team at the end of last year. Racing Bulls team principal Laurent Mekies said his promotion was “well-deserved” and his recent performances for them have been “nothing less than sensational.”
Although Tsunoda has not scored in either of the grands prix so far this year, picked up three points with sixth place in the Shanghai sprint race. He impressed by qualifying his fifth for the season-opening race in Melbourne but spun in the rain-hit. He ran sixth in the early stages of the Chinese Grand Prix before dropping back due to a poor strategy and front wing failure.
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