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Red Bull is reportedly set to drop New Zealand’s Liam Lawson from their lineup after two races in the F1 2025 season, replacing him with the Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda at his home grand prix. It is understood that Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner along with the other team bosses reached the decision after meeting in Dubai on Tuesday, March 25, while the confirmation is set to happen later this week.
As per the report from the BBC Sport, Red Bull refused to comment on the new developments in regard to Liam Lawson, who had qualified in 18th place in the first race of the 2025 season in Australia before crashing out in rain. Last weekend, the New Zealander qualified last in the sprint and main race, finishing them in 14th and 12th places respectively, yielding no points for his efforts over the course of the last two weeks.
Yeah, why not? Always. In Japan? Yeah, 100%: Tsunoda about prospect of racing for Red Bull
The statistics in regard to the qualifying from Liam Lawson were quite poor in comparison to his teammate and four-time reigning world champion Max Verstappen with the average deficit being 0.88 seconds. After his departure, the 23-year-old is expected to return to the second team of Red Bull, called the Racing Bulls, where he will race alongside French rookie Isack Hadjar in F1.
Moreover, Liam Lawson’s impending move from Red Bull to Racing Bull was first confirmed by De Telegraaf, a Dutch newspaper. Yuki Tsunoda got questioned about whether he would be accepting the promotion from Racing Bull to Red Bull, he responded, “Yeah, why not? Always. In Japan? Yeah, 100%. I mean, the car is faster.”
When Lawson was asked to respond to Tsunoda’s take about the prospect of a demotion for him in F1 recently, he remarked, “I've raced him for years, raced him in junior categories and beat him - and I did in F1 as well, so he can say whatever he wants.”
