No one expected this decision, but knowing the history of the Milton Keynes team, it wasn’t to be excluded. Like many other drivers before him, Liam Lawson was removed from Red Bull and “left behind” in Racing Bulls: in his place, Yuki Tsunoda from Japan. But what makes the situation even more complicated are the constant criticisms the 23-year-old New Zealander is receiving.
Last year, after witnessing a disastrous season for Sergio Perez, no one would have imagined something worse. This is especially true because, observing the races Liam Lawson ran with Racing Bulls, no one ever doubted his speed. Finally, a teammate who could match Max Verstappen, someone capable of staying close to car number 1.
But the situation turned out to be completely different, and we noticed it right from the tests. From the very first session of the first day of testing in Bahrain, we saw that Liam Lawson’s Red Bull behaved totally differently from his teammate’s. A difficult car, extremely hard to control, which led the driver to make mistakes, fortunately stopping just before the barriers.
At the start of the season, things were the same, in fact, they were drastic. In Australia, he didn’t finish the race due to the crash in the heavy rain, and in China, under dry conditions, he never got going. He qualified last in both qualifying sessions and finished only 16th in the race. Meanwhile, Verstappen was racing near the podium.
Following these performances, Red Bull’s top management decided to demote him to Racing Bulls. Besides this blow, however, Liam is continuously bombarded with criticism from everyone. Interviewed by NZCasino, 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve did not hold back. “Let’s remember that he arrived in F1 in an arrogant way.”
“Last year, he came into the top category with all the good intentions, emphasizing how nice it would be to race with Red Bull. But the results in 2025 didn’t come: it was the worst result ever with a car like Red Bull.”
“These two races brought him nothing good. It’s a risk to race with them, and they know it well: when you start, you must be at the top immediately. That’s the price you pay if you want to compete for Red Bull. Are you willing to take that risk? Fine. But you know you’ll pay dearly if things don’t work out. It’s always been that way, and it’s right that it is.”
“Honestly, I thought they would have given him more races, maybe waiting for the championship to return to Europe.”
Leave a Reply