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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HUHHII (@huhhii)
27th March 2025, 9:16
I’m excited! Got get ’em, Yuki!
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
27th March 2025, 9:32
Oh I really hope he does, that would be hilarious :)
Imre (@f1mre)
27th March 2025, 10:09
9th row on the grid would be an improvement compared to Lawson.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
27th March 2025, 19:53
But also a waste of potential of that car, I think the minimum acceptable performance early on is scoring points, then once he knows the car well he could try to mix it up with the other big guns.
Mooa42
27th March 2025, 23:40
As much as I am excited for Yuki I think he would have done better in the Racing Bull at Suzuka. My fear is Liam will be up near Max and Yuki in the bottom half. No reflection on either driver, just the characteristics of the cars.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
27th March 2025, 9:18
Brutal for Liam, and shows how bare the cupboard is for Red Bull despite their extensive young driver programme. Tsunoda’s had four years in the sport and barely shown he is worthy of remaining in F1, never mind in one of the top drives.
Erk
27th March 2025, 9:22
Barely? What are you on about
Gubstar
27th March 2025, 9:38
barely shown his worth………… he’s beaten every single teammate he has had
Imre (@f1mre)
27th March 2025, 10:09
Not Gasly.
HAL
27th March 2025, 12:18
Don’t bother them with fact, dude !
Honestly Yuki is a fast driver, and I’m happy for him that he gets the chance. But it took him time, he was dreadfull his first year and not so good his second year. It took him time. But for Lawson, 2 races is enough…
And for the record, yes, Yuki strongly beat Lawson in some stats (Qualy ahead etc), but just a smitch of honesty, and you’ll see that he was very close in terms of timing. Pretty good for a guy with small xp and thrown in the car past mid season.
Imre (@f1mre)
27th March 2025, 15:12
Tsunoda was rushed into F1 I think. Lawson has loads of experience from other series. Lawson has never shown much brilliance outside F1. And he failed on the first two weekends at Red Bull. He most probably would never have been good enough. (and by “good enough” I mean about Sainz level) There are various examples where more inexperienced drivers were able to perform from the get go. In new machinery, unknown tracks, etc. He should never have got the Red Bull seat in the first place. Not after 11 GP starts.
Red Bull seems to be making a mess about handling their personnel. Drivers, engineers, key people…
El Pollo Loco
28th March 2025, 2:32
Indeed, Imre. It seems too many fans have bought the line RBR themselves were trying to sell to justify passing over Yuki (a decision driven by bitterness with Honda) rather than logic. Maybe Yuki fails in the RBR. Maybe he succeeds, but he’s shown just as much worth as most of the 10 or so non-elite drivers on the grid.
S Arkazam
27th March 2025, 9:49
It’s a team sport; I would replace weak ‘players’ as well.
PS should still be done in a dignified way though.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
27th March 2025, 19:55
What they said in the article makes sense, dropping lawson so soon could give him more time to get experience in a team he knows and did well at, something that should’ve been done since the start of this season, by promoting tsunoda instead.
Johns
28th March 2025, 2:20
I am sure these guys are going all out in sim and engineering, so i thinkt the outcome may not have a clear reason, too many moving parts in a short time. JMHO
Dex
27th March 2025, 13:14
What are you talking about Tsunoda? If he doesn’t deserve his spot in F1, half the grid doesn’t.
Jere (@jerejj)
27th March 2025, 9:21
Finally official, but I still expect Yuki to struggle just as much with the RB21 despite his greater overall F1 racing experience.
Kribana (@krichelle)
27th March 2025, 9:23
I have a message for Red Bull: just drop the 2nd car and make yourself a one-driver team with Verstappen. If Marko insists that Verstappen is the best driver, then he can deal with all the competition himself. He should beat both Mclarens and win both championships by himself. They don’t care about the attitude they display in races. So why on earth are they wasting resources on the 2nd car?
Severin (@severin)
27th March 2025, 11:34
Maybe, just maybe, because the rules say they have to enter two cars…
Doggy
27th March 2025, 11:35
Max has been doing that almost by himself for the past 2 years anyways. In 2023, he scored 585 points alone. The team that came second score 409. So yes, if he has the car, then he does not need a teammate to win driver and constructors championship.
Also, by law, a team shall have 2 drivers.
Perhaps educating yourself a bit more prior to trying to educate others is best.
Other than that, have a great day
MurasamaRA300 (@murasamara300)
27th March 2025, 15:52
I’d personally like to see 1-car teams, 2-car teams and 3-car teams (Merc and Ferrari). But I don’t make the Rules so it will never happen.
I’ve also “educated” myself enough to see that one select team can run four cars if said team has enough moneymoneymoney.
That’s what I learned in school today, that’s what I learned in school.
A bit like the old Tom Paxton song. Still relevant in many ways.
Doggy
27th March 2025, 16:24
Perhaps it’s worth for you to continue “educating” yourself more often since is this nothing new. Redbull is not the first team nor the last team who have taken this approach
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
27th March 2025, 20:30
Like “1-car Williams” in the 70s, or did I mishear that?
MurasamaRA300 (@murasamara300)
28th March 2025, 9:20
I just think the 2-car rule is a bit limiting.
The big teams could easily run three cars, some smaller teams might just want to have a go with one single car.
Anyway, it’s only an opinion and it’s not going to happen. It’s all good I’m sure.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
27th March 2025, 9:24
Why are they even running a #2 car ? I mean it’s clear Max needs the whole team wrapped around his finger.
When I think of greats, I think of Jorge Lorenzo, who came in during Rossi’s 2008 campaign, and upset the apple cart. This was Rossi’s year to take his new Bridgestone tires to the top of the championship, and prove that the control tire for 2009 was a valid economic model. Yet, despite all this initiative, Jorge still managed to beat Rossi, until they drew a solid line between him and the other side of the garage.
Why then all the false pretenses ? Just don’t run a #2 car.
As much as I admire Horner for sticking it out last year, it’s a shame what his team has to do or put up with to make things work politically. Getting rid of Verstappen is probably the best move Horner can make right now, and just get some solid drivers who don’t have years of tribal knowledge about the car/setup, to find a generalized form which is a better more competitive car.
Doggy
27th March 2025, 11:44
Everyone keeps conveying this lie about the car being built specifically for Max when Adrain Newey said it himself that the car need only be designed to be as fast as possible and Max will extract the speed from it. Please go back and watch interviews with Adrian because he made the comment that he didn’t have to built a car suited to Max….. No he said Max could drive anything
And yes every team puts more effort to give the preferential treatment to their #1 driver. It was true to Senna, Schumacher, Hamilton, Max, and it will always be like that.
Actarus
27th March 2025, 15:27
This past Friday, Horner admitted in an interview that the team developed the car with the inputs of the fastest driver. In other words the car is developed around Max. That doesn’t discredit Max but explained why it’s difficult for others to drive the car. Max even said last year that no one can drive this car faster than him. The car is twitchy for others because of Max’s driving style. Max turns in early and likes a very sharp front end for that. That requires a car that rotates quickly otherwise Max feels it as “understeery”. When the car was slower at rotation checo was able to compete with Max. Redbull corrected the issue over a few races then Checo was nowhere ever after. Btw Max is one of my favorite drivers so no hater here.
Doggy
27th March 2025, 19:11
I get what you’re saying. I welcome and enjoy having debates when is eloquently put as yours.
Please go to YouTube and watch this video:> Race Driver Explains Lawson’s Driving Style Problem < from Driver61
It will help a lot to better understand the situation
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
27th March 2025, 19:57
In addition, let’s not forget a number 2 driver can become number 1 by outperforming the established driver in the team: ricciardo did it to vettel at red bull, leclerc did it to vettel at ferrari and verstappen did it to ricciardo at red bull.
Ferdi
28th March 2025, 9:37
You won’t convince people that have limited knowledge of F1. The idea alone that a car would be designed around a driver disqualifies anyone stating such thing.
FrankT
27th March 2025, 12:36
We get it, you don’t like Verstappen, you’re getting tiresome. You’re stuck on repeat.
Bosco Moroz
27th March 2025, 13:36
I agree, Max hasn’t shown he can drive a bit. Pure luck for winning in 1st race for Red Bull… How many wins in a row, how many finishes, because someone who wrecks others surely can’t be finishing nearly every race entered.
Thanks FrankT. You have said what everyone on this site thinks everytime PCXMAC replies to anything. ever.
Doggy
27th March 2025, 14:00
I would not be surprised is PCXMAC is a second account that michael -freelittlebird has.
Same hate/toxic approach towards Max.
I don’t get why people can’t appreciate that Lewis, Max, Schumacher , Senna, Fangio, Clark, etc are on a different level. You may like or dislike their personality or what they do in their private life, but when it comes to racing, I praise them.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
27th March 2025, 20:02
Personally I feel hamilton hasn’t done enough to be mentioned among those, he could have 20 titles, it has no meaning if the car is always way superior to his opponents and when it’s not he doesn’t win anything.
For me the only titles that count for hamilton are 2008, 2017, 2018: 2008 was a bad season for both him and massa, lots of mistakes and massa also had worse reliability, else he’d have won, 2017 hamilton and vettel did a similar job but the mercedes was slightly faster and more reliable, and 2018 hamilton did a way better job than vettel in similar cars, but it’s also well known vettel was spinning every other race, it’s him who threw away a title chance.
However he had a great performance in his rookie year, unfortunately he didn’t win that title, because it’s probably more deserved than most of his.
Obviously someone will bring up schumacher when it comes to the dominant car, but we have 1994 and 1995 with a benetton that was at best level with williams, 2000 with a ferrari level with mclaren and 2003 with a 3-way battle between ferrari, williand and mclaren.
Doggy
28th March 2025, 1:31
Very interesting take here. Good arguments you put there.
It’s funny how our memory works. I’ve forgotten about a couple of the events you put there.
But for example LH’s rookie season was brilliant, more so if we compare it against all the rookies in this season.
Ferdi
28th March 2025, 9:45
I fully agree with this. He is a multiple WDC but the amount of 7 is not in line with where he sits amongst other greats. Yet, if I state such thing I am anti Lewis etc etc. I do not understand why all needs to be black and white. Why can’t I appreciate Lewis but question his nr of titles (attributing it to the car rather than his skills)?
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
28th March 2025, 3:12
It appears that I live rent-free in your mind :-)
No toxicity or hatred – just facts.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
27th March 2025, 9:24
Atrocious way to treat Lawson.
At a bare minimum he should have been given six races – a quarter of the season – to get a feel for both the car and the team.
If I was a young racer looking to join a racing academy then Red Bull would be at the bottom of my list.
I do wonder though if such a rapid departure has something to do with Liam himself?
Has he been totally negative about the car perhaps, not giving useful feedback?
Ankita
27th March 2025, 9:33
Why “atrocious” ? It is unusual but he didn’t show anything spectacular before and was given the Red Bull seat with no more merit than Tsunoda. He was given two races (probably too short) but still, great drivers could have shown more. Moreover, he was not left without a seat, he is back to the sister team where, with less pressure, he will be able to shine if he truly has what it takes.
Ross
27th March 2025, 9:35
And if he continues to go downhill as the pressure mounts his career is done. No team will even show interest. If they send him back to RB and he can make a more mundane car perform then he retains some value as a racing driver on the f1 grid. I don’t disagree than RBR have made a total cluster of this. But they could actually be saving his career by dropping him back into the RB.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
27th March 2025, 20:06
Well, that happens often: gasly and albon did fine at toro rosso before being promoted to red bull, then gasly was demoted and went back to doing fine at toro rosso, while albon was fired and ended up being a star at williams.
kuvemar
27th March 2025, 10:21
Better to do it now than later. Yuki already has missed two races he could’ve won. That might be costly for the WDC at the end of the year. Let’s just hope Max plays the team game and will be a reliable #2 for Tsunoda.
OOliver
27th March 2025, 10:22
The attrocious treatment started when they placed him alongside Max in the in the first place.
They had the opportunity to allow him mature in a safer environment but chose this option. Now it will be hard for Lawson to shake off the ‘damaged goods” image the is stuck to his name.
Secondly they are going to promote a more experienced driver belatedly without giving him enough time to prepare and gel with the car and the people he will work closely with.
A lesson in how to get the worst out of a good situation.
David BR (@david-br)
27th March 2025, 12:49
+1 Exactly. I do think it’s atrocious that Lawson has been dropped after two races given that Red Bull made the choice and said he’d be given time and support. So that was essentially a lie.
But the signing was bad anyhow, a big risk with a driver without any obvious hint of a ‘generation-defining’ talent and virtually no F1 experience. Tsunoda at least has a lot of experience and has shown personal resilience. Will he thrive? Unlikely, but he can’t do any worse. Red Bull need someone with Russell’s talent and above to have any chance of coping but they seem to have neither the option nor the disposition to find that kind of signing just now.
anon
27th March 2025, 10:37
@nullapax there are likely to be commercial considerations at play here too.
Red Bull have been targeting the Japanese market, where the energy drinks market is growing strongly – they bought the Japanese football club Omiya Ardija last year as part of their strategy of expanding in that market through sports branding. Moving a Japanese driver into the works Red Bull team in time for his home race is going to generate a lot of additional publicity around the team – add to that the fact that Honda is reportedly prepared to pay additional sponsorship to Red Bull if Tsunoda is promoted, and there’s a strong financial argument for making the switch now.
Dex
27th March 2025, 13:19
Don’t get me wrong, this is all on Red Bull without any doubt. But I knew he’d fail as soon as they confirmed him as the second driver. His driving proved it brutally clear. We know that there’s no way he’d turn this around enough to deserve to stay, he’s way too far off. So what’s the point in giving him more races? That’d only be a waste of time and resources.
Yes, they look so stupid now, the entire organization. This is a mockery. But since they made a mistake of bringing him in, cutting their losses makes sense, as humiliating as it is. If so, better sooner than later.
The fact that they don’t even have any real options is just another humiliating fact, or that Marko is still on the payroll. They are making us laugh with their driver recruitment and treatment strategy for practically a decade, and there are zero consequences for those responsible. If I was a shareholder I’d feel offended.
Alex (@arobbo)
27th March 2025, 9:29
Redbull: Were not going to drop Lawson, they’re fake reports!
Also Redbull:
Doggy
27th March 2025, 11:40
That is the nature of every sport. Mercedes/Hamilton. We are the best together on 2026 we will be stronger and now …. Cristiano Ronaldo I won’t leave Manchester for Real Madrid, and then….
Jojo
27th March 2025, 19:02
Well they wouldn’t confirm the reports yesterday, which isn’t the same as denying them. Actually by not denying them, it was sort of a giveaway.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
27th March 2025, 20:07
Well, I’ve seen them deny reports of demoting a driver and then it happened anyway.
StephenH
27th March 2025, 9:36
Red Bull are rapidly turning into the Manchester United of F1 – a formerly successful team beset by systemic problems of mismanagement. I’m far from being a Verstappen fan, but it’s clear he’s driving the pants off a very difficult car, and mollycoddling him by putting an inept or inexperienced driver into the second car is shooting everyone in the foot.
OOliver
27th March 2025, 10:27
A very difficult car he steered Redbull into creating.
He likes pointy cars and they gave him a niddle.
David BR (@david-br)
27th March 2025, 12:52
Another good point. Red Bull’s Verstappen fixation has generated this situation in terms of poor second driver selection and car development. Not MV’s fault of course. He’s just driving the car he’s given as best and fast as he can and no doubt providing the best feedback possible. An amazing driver. The errors are all at management level.
Only Facts!
27th March 2025, 9:36
Tsunoda’s make or break moment. But the odds are not in his favor. After Verstappen got promoted, all drivers that were doing good in the sister team failed to materialize when driving the “fronty” Red Bull.
But this will be very entertaining… I hope they don’t filter Tsunoda’s radio that much.
And if he can pull this off, Japan will have a full line of SuperYuki’s merchandise.
MichaelN
27th March 2025, 9:39
Lawson could have known commitments don’t mean much to Horner.
Also, why is Red Bull allowed to have four cars that one man can just decide to move drivers between? Is Mekies proud of himself in this role? High time to end this special privileged treatment of Red Bull, along with the awful engine freeze at their behest, and let Hitech have a go.
Jere (@jerejj)
27th March 2025, 11:09
I agree & think that Red Bull should sell their B-team to exclusively focus on a single team.
PeteB (@peteb)
27th March 2025, 15:26
Red Bull were allowed to buy a 2nd team a long time ago and no-one complained about it back then. It’s been allowed to go on for so long now that any attempts to force them to sell would likely fail in the inevitable court battle that would follow…
MichaelN
27th March 2025, 20:10
There was always a sense of unease about this unfair arrangement and the benefits it had for Red Bull. Mostly among fans and commentators at the time, because for F1 it made sense when various teams were dropping out or about to do so. But the entry of three new 2010 teams, albeit on the false pretense of a budget cap that never materialized, should have put a stop to it.
That it has gone on for two decades now is a big failure on the part of F1, and unfair to other competitors. The ‘Honda test year’ being a prime example. Tost – at least for a while – kept up the pretense of running his own Toro Rosso team, even if it was always obvious that the TR drivers would jump out of the way of any RB drivers. But in the last five or so years it’s been a four car operation, run by Horner from Milton Keynes, with Mekies being a complete irrelevance.
Jojo
27th March 2025, 19:07
The engine freeze was already going to be brought in, the only change was that it happened a year earlier.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
27th March 2025, 9:39
It’s not brilliant from any angle. The way it was handled was poor, you’d think after the Daniel Singapore thing last year that lessons might have been learnt. Outside of ‘pay-to-race’, ‘temps’ etc, I can’t think of anyone getting dropped so quickly.
If it’s true that Honda were willing to pay $10m, that itself seems odd. Honda are off to Aston, do Red Bull need $10m, in the budget era? Apparently they were offered the $10m at the end of last season, if it’s to help pay off Checo they could have done it then. So it can only be on the basis of three (admittedly) terrible performances.
The ‘Young Driver Programme’ has almost become the antithesis of what it set out to do. If a promising young driver were given the choice of Ferrari, Mercedes or Red Bull, and I was their manager, yes Red Bull have more seats, but I’d be more minded to advise a more ‘nurturing’ environment. Antonelli can make as many mistakes as he has to this season, he’s learning the ropes. Though Liam didn’t help himself, the common consensus is that there’s every chance that he’ll out perform Yuki in the Red Bull come Saturday. Which sort of highlights the issue with the whole thing.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
27th March 2025, 10:37
I think it’s clear that the purpose of the Red Bull young driver programme is to find the next Vettel or Verstappen; they have no interest in developing any driver who can’t reach those exceptional heights.
Brendan
27th March 2025, 11:34
His criticism of the Red Bull programme is certainly valid. Some of the recent signings such as Goethe, Tsolov, Marti etc. seems to indicate Red Bull aren’t just looking for ‘the next Vettel or Verstappen’, and I don’t think Marko/Horner ever considered Liam Lawson as such either.
That said I think the Red Bull academy is better than the others. They have brought so many drivers into the sport. So many other young drivers have been left on tge sidelines at least at Red Bull they give you a go
J.R. Love (@dermechaniker)
27th March 2025, 14:30
And, yet, neither Max or Seb came through the Red Bull young driver program…
Deerhunter
27th March 2025, 9:44
The Red Bull upper management looked at the Mavericks-Lakers Doncic trade and was all like, ‘hold my beer’. Definitely in the running for the worst sports managerial decision of the year, and it’s only March.
Picking Lawson over Tsunoda showed they learned absolutely nothing from Albon and Gasly, but instead of at least trying to make the best of that decision, they doubled back and instead hung Lawson out to dry. When the problem so obviously lies with the car, playing roulette with the second seat isn’t going to help with the issue one bit.
Armchair Expert (@armchairexpert)
27th March 2025, 9:49
Ricciardo, Gasly, Albon, Perez and now Lawson are all victims. But not Red Bull’s, rather Max’s and his monster pace, consistency and relentlessness. Tsunoda will be another name on that list and I can’t wait to see excuses being made for him already!
Also, paydriver at Red Bull? Pretty weak, but I guess 10 million from Honda is better than paying their driver salary instead.
Doggy
27th March 2025, 15:37
Max is great. But Hamilton, Schumacher, Senna, etc . Have performed in similar capacity. So let’s picture Max as a God.
Also, Yuki has demonstrated that he is a capable driver. It’s not a top tier driver, but certainly a good one.
Zach Bigalke (@bigalke)
27th March 2025, 20:31
Pay driver at Red Bull… is nothing new.
After all, it wasn’t just a happy coincidence that Red Bull started getting Telmex money once Checo signed.
El Pollo Loco
28th March 2025, 2:37
We have no idea if Honda has actually paid $10m. It’s both an idea and a number some F1 “journo” pulled out of their – – and others began repeating. Personally, I highly doubt it. Red Bull was in crisis with Lawson. If Honda actually paid more than a token sum, that was really poor strategic thinking.
t1redmonkey (@t1redmonkey)
27th March 2025, 9:54
It just seems terribly handled all-round really. They probably should’ve had Yuki in the RBR second car at the start of the year really, since he was the more experienced guy in their stable. However since they went with LL, they should’ve at least given the guy half a season, what does two races really prove? Is Yuki also now going to get kicked out within a few races if he doesn’t get a great result straight away?
An Sionnach
27th March 2025, 9:55
Hmm… I don’t think the inability to drive the Red Bull should be considered make or break for anyone. It seems McLaren can make a good car that isn’t punishing. Considering the difficulties they had, it seems like hard work. Perhaps it’s easier to leave it to the driver if you have the only driver who can handle this kind of car?
Liam now has a bigger challenge – to do well against Hadjar. He seems quicker than Yuki already and should make fewer mistakes as time goes by.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
27th March 2025, 10:23
Yes, Liam will want to hit the ground running on his return, unlike Ricciardo who just hit the ground. Wonder if Racing Bulls will reunite his old crew or give him a new engineer (he didn’t even do very well last year). They’ve only done two race weekends with Hadjar, and Melbourne hardly counts…
Erk
27th March 2025, 10:24
How is hadjar quicker than Yuki? He crashed out in the formation lap and couldn’t pass doohan
tielemst
27th March 2025, 10:04
For Liam’s sake, this should of course have been done before the season. But whatever you may think of it, the RedBull family has two teams in F1. Now they at last have gone back to the best drivers in the Red Bull and two juniors in the Racing Bulls. Yuki has his chance now, but also lost his place in the shadows. He is the one that has to perform, as I don’t see an option for him to move back to the Racing Bulls if he fails to be a big improvement over Liam and Checo. Which might suit the RedBull management fine, by the way.
Postreader
27th March 2025, 10:09
I am not convinced by this peculiar narrative of an undriveable car. Maybe they are ending up a couple of tenths below their potential, but most of it just looks like the simple consequence of these mid to low-tier drivers being >0.5 s slower than one of the best of all time.
Craig
27th March 2025, 10:34
I dare say they want to encourage the narrative that Verstappen is better then he is and it’s not like they want the other driver they’re obliged to run to get ideas like the last one did.
Adrian Hancox (@ahxshades)
27th March 2025, 10:15
I think that they are treating Yuki dreadfully – demoting him to the Red Bull car whilst promoting Liam to the better performing RB car.
I’ll get my coat.
ADUB SMALLBLOCK (@waptraveler)
27th March 2025, 12:21
My apologies, I hit the “report” button instead of the reply button.Dang
Meant to tell you I was looking for the “like” button
Adrian Hancox (@ahxshades)
27th March 2025, 13:19
Hey – been there – done that
David BR (@david-br)
27th March 2025, 12:54
@ahxshades Yeah, I made the same observation yesterday. Then again Max Verstappen said virtually the same.
Adrian Hancox (@ahxshades)
27th March 2025, 13:19
Damn – there’s me thinking it was original !
hunocsi (@hunocsi)
27th March 2025, 10:18
Has a full-season driver ever been dropped faster than this?
S Arkazam
27th March 2025, 10:25
Maybe when Kaltenborn rocked up with 4 drivers in Melbourne.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
27th March 2025, 10:26
While we’re remembering Eddie Jordan, I think he’d already got rid of Ivan Capelli after 2 races.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
27th March 2025, 10:34
And six drivers got a go that season. Which considering Rubens had one all season means Eddie managed to swap as many bums to seats at a ratio that would make Helmut very envious.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
27th March 2025, 19:10
Driver no.6 was a winner (and a Suzuka circuit expert, on a topical note.) I’d forgotten all those other guys. One of them didn’t even complete a racing corner – got wiped out before turn one, Eddie hired someone else for the next race, and that was his F1 career!
anon
27th March 2025, 11:12
@bullfrog whilst Capelli did leave Jordan after two races, that is generally said to have been by mutual agreement.
Jordan was asking Capelli to pay for his seat, and Capelli decided after two races that Jordan was asking for too much. It seems that Capelli effectively said “if you want a pay driver, then we’ll call it quits and I’ll leave the team”, and Jordan agreed to that deal.
If you want a few other examples, then Alex Caffi and Enrico Bertaggia, from Andrea Moda in 1992, would count – they were both fired after the second race after getting into an argument with Andrea Sassetti (although, since Andrea Moda was not allowed to participate in the races due to a dispute over their licence, the most that they got to do were a few laps in practice at the opening race in South Africa).
Mind you, if you want a more extreme example of a driver being fired rapidly, then you should look at Masami Kuwashima. He struck a deal with Frank Williams to drive in the 1976 Japanese Grand Prix, as his sponsors had promised that they could pay more than Hans Binder (who was promising to pay Frank for that seat). Kuwashima duly took part in the first practice session, but when his sponsors failed to pay Williams on time and Binder managed to raise some extra cash, Williams promptly fired Kuwashima and put Binder back into the car before the second practice session started.
Chris (@austin-healey)
27th March 2025, 10:24
Helmut is the one who should be sacked.
Driver program hasn’t delivered
He failed
S Arkazam
27th March 2025, 10:38
He’s still the one with most active drivers in F1 though.
Drivers starting in F1 with (or sponsored by if contracted):
Red Bull: 7 – Verstappen, Albon, Tsunoda, Sainz, Hadjar, Gasly, Lawson
Mercedes: 4 – Russell, Antonelli, Hamilton, Ocon
McLaren: 3 – Norris, Piastri, Bortoleto?
Ferrari: 2 – Leclerc, Bearman
Alpine: 2 – Doohan, Alonso
Williams: 2 – Stroll, Hulkenberg
hunocsi (@hunocsi)
27th March 2025, 10:50
He’s also the one with the biggest freedom to bring in a new driver to F1 to gain experience. And once you have F1 experience, you have a bigger chance to stay.
Ritz
27th March 2025, 11:08
At least split the comparison between those with two teams versus one team on the grid
rprp
27th March 2025, 11:31
This is true, but also helped by the fact that Red Bull have two teams to get their drivers a seat.
David BR (@david-br)
27th March 2025, 12:57
+1 The point I was going to make. If Mercedes could double their drivers the same way, undoubtedly they’d be ahead.
anon
27th March 2025, 11:39
S Arkazam, I’d raise some questions over including Tsunoda in that list, as there’s an argument that you should really credit Honda for that.
He had been a Honda driver for several years before he joined Red Bull’s junior team, and even when he joined Red Bull, he remained under contract with Honda. It was only at the end of 2024 that Honda scaled back their support for Tsunoda, although he is still sponsored by them, and technically Red Bull’s contract for Tsunoda goes through Honda, given they were his management agency when that deal was struck.
His primary sponsor is Honda, it was Honda that brokered the deal for him to drive at Toro Rosso in the first place and it’s Honda that has played a significant part in Tsunoda getting the promotion to the parent team – he’s really a Honda driver, not a Red Bull driver.
S Arkazam
27th March 2025, 12:03
That same (or similar) argument could be made for Hamilton, as he was sponsored by Mercedes (the F1 company didn’t even exist back then, and even now is only partially linked to the car/engine company Mercedes).
Maybe I should add him then to McLaren as they gave him his debut.
MichaelN
27th March 2025, 20:13
Verstappen wasn’t much of a Red Bull prospect, and you’d have to divide that list by two to get a more accurate comparison since for some reason, Red Bull is still allowed to have four cars.
K (@sugoi)
27th March 2025, 10:30
*Perez’s grin intensifies*
MikePrice
27th March 2025, 10:34
Fair. Any other team would have made the same decision. Obviously Tsunoda was always the best choice but in the end I don’t think it matters either Tsunoda is likely to struggle hard as well.
Rb have been quite generous, Lawson is still in f1 and no other team would have put up with Perez for so many years, though they made the monumental mistake of signing him for 2 years.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th March 2025, 5:45
The biggest mistake imo they made with perez is: they extended his contract at a time where they still had the best car and hence everyone would’ve liked to join the team, and after perez had started underperforming, so they could’ve taken it easy and waited a few races to see how he performed, instead they rushed into the contract extension, perez’s underperformances continued and they had to pay a lot of money to get rid of him, unnecessarily.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
27th March 2025, 10:42
The revolving door keeps spinning… I do wonder what RBR would look like if Danny stuck around.
Simon (@simon999)
27th March 2025, 10:49
I suppose the positive spin on this is that Red Bull corrected their mistake quickly, in that Tsunoda was always the right choice to put in the second Red Bull seat when compared to Lawson.
Though how they intentionally avoided making that choice to start with and as a result now have egg on their face this quickly, is quite baffling.
Of course, their underlying issues remain:
1.) The only brand with a junior team has a dearth of high quality young drivers coming through. That’s how they ended up with a fairly mediocre choice (and had to get in Perez prior to that).
2.) Whether its the way the car has been developed for Max or the culture of the team (probably a mix of the two), it’s clear the second driver in that team is not setup for success. I doubt Tsunoda will do too much better than his predecessors, but it will be a nice surprise if he does.
BlackJack (@danieljaksa)
27th March 2025, 11:01
What happens if Lawson beats Tsunoda in Japan and then in Bahrain? RBR have lost the plot!
Jere (@jerejj)
27th March 2025, 11:13
Ironically, Lawson out-performing Tsunoda just like Tsunoda has out-performed him thus far is the most likely scenario for the upcoming rounds, so they indeed have lost the plot.
cdavman (@cdavman)
27th March 2025, 11:20
It seems to me that Red Bull and Max are great together, but could be damaging for both if they separate.
Clearly Max is able to drive that Red Bull in a way that nobody else in recent history can. It makes Max look like a driving god as teammate after teammate fails to deliver, while he trounces them and his reputation soars.
I suspect if he was to jump into a Mercedes, Ferrari or McLaren he’d still be stupidly quick, but the gap to his teammate would be significantly smaller, and he’d get beaten more regularly than he does now.
All indications suggest that if Red Bull had two different drivers in the car, they’d be at best a midfield team as the drivers would struggle to extract performance from the car and get decent results in the way Max does.
To some extent, Verstappen is flattering the car, and the car is flattering Verstappen.
cdavman (@cdavman)
27th March 2025, 11:21
And that was not meant to be a reply… No idea what happened there!
Patrick (@paeschli)
27th March 2025, 12:08
Honda is paying for this switch to occur this early, so I’d assume Yuki will keep that seat for the remainder of the season, no matter how bad his results.
Mal Ross (@malross)
27th March 2025, 11:16
I feel bad for Tsunoda right now. This ‘opportunity’ is an absolute poisoned chalice and his first race in the car is in front of his home fans. Poor guy.
That said, if he survives this, I’ll be seriously impressed. But the problem seems to be with the car and the organisation, not the drivers, so I don’t fancy his chances. Max’s outstanding abilities appear to be masking the real issue and while that isn’t a fault of Max’s, it isn’t helping anyone. At least Horner’s acknowledged the car issue by saying “there is a lot of work to be done with the RB21”, so maybe there’s hope for Yuki yet?
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
27th March 2025, 11:40
Brutal even by Red Bull standards. But as someone else said, it does give Liam a second chance I suppose in that he has time to develop and get more used to F1 in the Racing Bulls team. He’s unlikely ever to get back into the lead team though.
I honestly hope Yuki can make a decent job of it at Red Bull. I think he really should have been promoted before.
I would laugh if Max decided he was leaving at the end of the season. That would be nothing less than RB deserve.
MurasamaRA300 (@murasamara300)
27th March 2025, 16:06
Would be extra entertaining if Verstappen decided to sign for a different team say … about two races from now? :)
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th March 2025, 5:50
Realistically though, a strong driver would do better than lawson did in the 2 races he was given, and if he’s not a top driver he doesn’t need a top car.
Sergey Martyn
27th March 2025, 11:46
I hear a remote epic laugh from Mexico.
Yuki, say Sayonara to your career!
AllTheCoolNamesWereTaken
27th March 2025, 11:49
This is just brilliant. If Tsunoda fails to deliver at Red Bull (which he most likely will – not because he’s bad, but because the car is a nightmare and the team is toxic), maybe they can replace him with Hadjar in another two races’ time.
Heck, they should consider giving Verstappen a go in the Toro – err, RB while they’re at it. Just for a couple of races, of course. Could you imagine what would happen if it turned out that he, too, was faster in the junior team’s car?
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th March 2025, 5:53
Ahaha, “Max, what do you think about this car then?” (after winning the first race he drives it at), “That was pretty easy to drive, I think I’ll continue at the junior team this year”
CryptidBadger (@ninjabadger)
27th March 2025, 11:57
I wonder how Sainz feels about all this.
Disappointed Red Bull didn’t sign him when they had the chance, feeling he could do a better job.
Or relieved he’s in a more stable environment, and (although early in the season) is beating a Red Bull in the standings.
Patrick (@paeschli)
27th March 2025, 12:10
I think Sainz is more pre-occupied with trying to beat his teammate. If results stay the same, I’d rather sign Albon to my top team than Sainz.
CryptidBadger (@ninjabadger)
27th March 2025, 22:50
I was also going to say “would he rather be behind Max or Albon”… but the answer would be neither.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th March 2025, 5:41
Well, being 3 tenths behind verstappen makes you a better driver than 3 tenths behind albon, so the answer is clear imo.
baasbas
27th March 2025, 12:20
@ninjabadger
He dodged a bullet for sure..
Jason Blankenship (@jblank)
27th March 2025, 12:21
Should have never booted Albon from the team.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th March 2025, 5:55
He improved too little, too late, he should’ve done that much earlier on that season, he actually went backwards at one point during 2020.
Sergey Martyn
27th March 2025, 12:27
Marko’s is better than Biden – at least he has a knee-jerk reaction!
iFuel
27th March 2025, 12:29
As someone who actively dislikes Red Bull Racing as a whole, I hope this means they are as in disarray as they look to be in right now.
I feel for Yuki, he’s in a sink or swim position right now, and everyone that was in the same position he is right now, sank.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th March 2025, 5:56
At the end of the day, this was tsunoda’s only chance at a top team and he’s gotta try, even if it can lead to the end of his career; I don’t think staying in the midfield forever would be very enticing.
Maciek (@maciek)
27th March 2025, 12:37
Go Yuki. Obviously will be fascinating to see how he fares. It’s difficult to imagine he won’t do better than Lawson and he’ll have to do better than Perez for the sake of his career.
Adam (@rocketpanda)
27th March 2025, 12:37
Last year when it was clear they weren’t keeping Perez I think everyone pretty much pointed at Tsunoda. He’s decent and quick, he’s a ready made in-house replacement even to the point RB felt he was ready, but Red Bull preferred Lawson. It makes Red Bull themselves look stupid as who would have thought the guy that hasn’t completed a whole F1 season wasn’t *quite* ready? I think everyone predicted this just maybe not this fast. To be honest I like both Tsunoda and Lawson and I hope Tsunoda performs, and I hope Lawson learns. It’s just sad for both of them that Red Bull’s driver development is ridiculous and Horner & Marko should face tougher questions about their capability than either Lawson or Tsunoda.
floodo1 (@floodo1)
27th March 2025, 13:46
Must be nice having two teams
Edvaldo
27th March 2025, 14:13
Another masterpiece of incompetence by team management.
But their jobs are as secure as ever.
M2X
27th March 2025, 14:17
All of this makes you question the management of Red Bull and their junior programme.
How can you make the conclusion and decision that Liam will be a better driver than Yuki for the main team, to just go back on that decision 2 races into the season?
They clearly aren’t training and educating their junior drivers in an appropriate way, they aren’t giving them the tools to become better drivers.
And the reason why they don’t do that, is because they clearly don’t understand what makes a driver better, what a driver with a certain driving style needs to learn to develop, what type of driver, with what type of driving style their car needs.
This is just a brute force method, a numbers game, get as many drivers as possible, analyse their data and hope you find a good one. Yet, they lack the skill to analyse the data they collect on the drivers.
slowmo (@slowmo)
27th March 2025, 14:33
At the end of the day they’ve not canned Lawson completely, they’ve simply swapped drivers and from this there is the potential within a handful of races that they’re going to get a good read on whether the issue is the driver, or the car development direction as Verstappen has alluded to previously.
Ultimately the issue feels like this car (and previous years models) have horrible characteristics that don’t favour most driver styles and the difference is that 2-4 years ago being 5 tenths of Verstappen due to issues handling the oversteer put you 6th at worst, 5 tenths is now enough to drop you outside the top 10 and a tenth or two more out in Q1. I don’t think Perez was that much worse last season, I think it just showed how much the pack had caught RBR that he no longer got away with his poor qualifying pace relative to Verstappen.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th March 2025, 6:01
That is true about perez, but remember that he was the worst driver of the grid even in 2023, he just ended up 2nd in the championship because of the super dominant car, and what annoys me is that some people used that result to defend him and said he was doing the job: anyone would’ve done that “job”!
bull mello (@bullmello)
27th March 2025, 14:41
Red Bull is ruthless. Not good management at all.
Lawson might be faster in the Racing Bulls than Tsunoda in the 2nd seat in the Red Bull at Suzuka.
If that happens, it is not Tsunoda’s fault.
Best wishes for Tsunoda.
Xmyass (@xmyass)
27th March 2025, 14:50
Whilst a Liam fan, i don’t have an issue with the swap. Would have preferred to see him tackle Suzuka 1st given he knows the track, but get him in a car he is more familiar with and allow him the rest of season to learn more of these tracks. Then at end of season RB can size up both him and Hadjar and put one of them into the RB main team next season with the new regs – as also by then Yuki will have spent potentially this season fighting the current car and had his moment and can then head off with Honda and their cash elsewhere.
Edvaldo
27th March 2025, 14:52
It would be hilarious if Tsunoda also underperforms and they get cornered to the point they offer Perez a 20-race deal just until they regroup to think what to do about this.
Because Tsunoda is either staying there until the end of the season or being kicked out of F1, he’s not returning to Racing Bulls no matter what happens, as he’s closing to 100 GPs and shouldn’t even still be there to begin with.
MurasamaRA300 (@murasamara300)
27th March 2025, 16:10
Even better if Perez gets that offer and says “errrr, no thanks…“
Free_B
27th March 2025, 16:51
I wonder what’s gonna happen when Lawson in the RB outqualifies Yuki in the Red Bull?……
Wer
27th March 2025, 17:10
Yes! That’s exactly what I’m waiting for!! Lawson will be faster in the RB that he would’ve been in a RedBull, and vice versa for Yuki.
I can’t wait to see those embarrased faces on Horner etc.!
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th March 2025, 6:04
“That’s enough! We’re now giving a 2-races test to every driver on the grid who’s not already at one of the top 4 teams till someone can perform in our car!”
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th March 2025, 6:05
(excluding mclaren, merc, ferrari drivers, so that the offer is more tempting, as red bull wouldn’t be an upgrade for those)
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
27th March 2025, 19:24
Sadly, I think the bigger news today for F1 and everyone are the tariffs on vehicles which are going to massively affect the following teams:
Ferrari
McLaren
Aston Martin
Mercedes
Honda (Red Bull’s power unit)
They may also affect new incoming teams like Audi (VW group) and Cadillac. Williams is using the Mercedes power unit and Haas and Sauber are using the Ferrari PU and they may also be indirectly affected.
Will it affect Alpine/Renault through Nissan?
So we could potentially have every team affected.
Moi
27th March 2025, 19:34
I don’t normally jump onto the usual ‘let’s all hate on redbull’ wagon that is customarily rolled out here, but in this case they definitely failed severely.
I wish both Lawson and Yuki all the best, neither of them deserved this embarrassment of a teammanagememnt show.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
28th March 2025, 2:48
I don’t really understand Liam being demoted to Racing Bulls, after all Red Bull Racing were responsible for the fiasco at Melbourne, so really this is one substandard performance, but what about the other people who were responsible for his poor performance? Now there’s some people who should be demoted. There should be at least half a dozen others who go to work at Racing Bulls. Since this hasn’t happened then Liam should see this as a promotion, not a demotion. Now he gets to drive with a nicer team which provides a better car set up and better strategy calls.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th March 2025, 6:07
The strategy calls have been heavily criticsed and cost tsunoda several points.
Witan
28th March 2025, 9:34
This is the worst sort of personnel management. The team did little to prepare him, threatened him at race one of his tenure and changed his car at the last minute of the second race and then express surprise that he has not done better.
Marko may be a straight talker but he is also a straight up ignoramus when it comes to getting the best out of people. So much so that he seems so keen on being the tough guy manager that he forgets he is dealing with real people and all of us, at some time or other, need a little support and protection if we are to make the best of ourselves.