Liam Lawson’s recent step down from Red Bull Racing to their junior team, Racing Bulls, ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix has sparked considerable discussion within the Formula 1 community.
Following Lawson’s challenging start to the 2025 season, Team Principal Christian Horner has said a key influence leading to this move was how the team’s engineers were coming to him concerned about Liam’s behaviour and mental wellbeing.
“It was really affecting Liam quite badly”. said Horner
“It was something that was very clear to the engineering side within the team, just how much Liam was struggling with it all, and you could see that weight upon his shoulders.
“The engineers were coming to me very concerned about it, and at the end of the day, I think it was the logical thing to do.”
Lawson, the 23-year-old New Zealander, faced significant difficulties in the opening races. After a crash in the Australian Grand Prix and a 12th-place finish in China (15th across the line), where he started from the pit lane, concerns emerged about his performance and adaptability to the RB21 car. Horner previously acknowledged these struggles, stating,
“Liam is a great little racer… He’s just struggling at the moment, finding the limit with this car and getting the most out of the car.”
Behind the scenes, reports indicated that Lawson appeared “frazzled” and had lost confidence, struggling to establish a connection with the car. This decline in confidence was a significant concern for the engineering team, as they observed his challenges in extracting performance from the vehicle.
“We could have left it, and I think that Liam is a driver with talent. Maybe within half a season, he would have got there, but we just don’t have that amount of time,” Horner told the UK’s Sky Sports.
“Of course, it’s horrible because you’re taking away someone’s dreams and aspirations, but sometimes you’ve got to be cruel to be kind, and I think that in this instance, this is not the end for Liam.
“I was very clear with him that it’s a sample of two races. I think that we’ve asked too much of you too soon.
“The door is not shut on him for the future.
“We have to accept that, and so this is for him to, again, nurture that talent that we know that he has, back in the Racing Bulls seat, whilst giving Yuki the opportunity and looking to make use of the experience that he has.”
The swift decision to replace Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda, especially before Tsunoda’s home race in Japan, underscores Red Bull’s urgency to address the issues they were facing head-on.
Lawson admitted that being sent back to Racing Bulls was “definitely a shock.”
“Honestly, It’s not something that I saw coming,“ he told the UK’s Sky Sports.
“The discussions we were having as well, I think, weren’t really leaning in this direction, so it was definitely not something that I sort of expected.”
Lawson expressed his frustration over the limited track time, especially since he knows Suzuka well. In contrast, Melbourne and Shanghai were completely new challenges for him.
“And I felt like with more time, especially going to places that I’d been before. It was a tough start. We had a rocky testing. We had a rocky first weekend in Melbourne with practice. And then, obviously, China was a sprint.
“I think going to places that I’d been to before with the way the car was would have helped, and I would have loved that opportunity. But obviously, it’s not my decision, so I’m here to make the most of this one.”
Teaming up with Frenchman Isack Hadjar in Japan, he now has the perfect opportunity to prove Red Bull’s decision to drop him from their senior squad was a mistake.
Former Red Bull junior driver Jaime Alguersuari expressed sympathy for Lawson, highlighting the challenges of adapting to a new team and car dynamics. He noted, “Liam is not as bad as he looks… You can’t be a hero and then [become] the worst driver in one or two races.”
As Lawson returns to Racing Bulls this weekend, the focus will be on his ability to rebuild confidence and demonstrate resilience. This period is a pivotal moment in his career, offering an opportunity to regain form and reassert his position within the Red Bull hierarchy.
Header Image: Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
